Family Ties
by BeTheDream
Summary: SEQUEL TO STELLA'S GIRL. This is Stella's second chance. Her daughter is living with her in New York. Her granddaughter is her little angel. This is her chance to finally have a family. And what made it even better? Mac was right there with her, and together they could overcome any bumps in the road. Lot's of SMac.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! Some of you may have read my first CSI:NY story, Stella's Girl, well, I decided to make a sequel too it! I didn't realize how much I missed writing these characters and I've finally got the time to write it. It's not really necessary to read Stella's Girl if you haven't already but some of this won't make sense so it may be helpful to read it.  
If you could please leave a review, I would really appreciate it.  
Enjoy!  
Bx**

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**Chapter One**

"Stella?" A tiny whisper came from beside the bed.

Stella Bonasera yawned and turned over. She could feel the slight tugging on the edge of the bedcovers. Wearily, she opened one eye and smiled. Isla, her 4 year old granddaughter, stood there in her pyjamas. Stella pulled back the bed cover and shifted over slightly so there was room for Isla. Isla climbed up into the bed and cuddled in to Stella.

"Did you have a bad dream sweetie?" Stella whispered.

Stella wrapped her arm around Isla and stroked through her hair. She kissed the top of the little girls head. Stella could feel Isla nodding. She kissed her again and held on to her tighter. Stella cuddled Isla until she heard her breathing become heavy, and she fell asleep.

As Stella laid awake, watching Isla sleep, she smiled contently to herself. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she scanned the room. A couple of cardboard boxes were stacked in the corner, waiting to be unpacked. Her main priority was making sure that she and Madeline had unpacked all of Isla's things. They'd been living in the new apartment for a few months and Stella still hadn't got around to doing the last little bits.

The new apartment was a lot bigger than their last one, with an extra bedroom and bathroom. Stella dreaded moving, and she had done her fair share of it, the whole process was draining. The move was necessary though. The old apartment had gotten way too small for the 4 adults and 1 child now living there.

A few months after Isla's second birthday, Madeline had begun dating 23 year old Nick Bowen. It wasn't long before he was spending every other night at their apartment, and eventually moved in completely.

The biggest change, however, was for Stella. Her boss, turned boyfriend had now turned in to roommate. Everyone was happy, if not feeling a little crowded. Isla loved all the attention that the adults gave her, and they were more than happy to fulfil her every desire.

Eventually Stella fell asleep, with Isla still curled up beside her. She must've had a good few hours sleep before the shrill alarm clock on the side woke her up. Isla fidgeted and frowned in her sleep as Stella leaned over her and switched off the alarm.

"Morning baby" Stella smiled, kissing Isla's forehead.

"I had a bad dream." Isla said through a yawn.

"I know honey, you came in here last night, remember?" Stella whispered.

"Nope, is Mac awake?" Isla asked as she wrapped a strand of Stella's hair around her little finger.

Stella looked over her should to see Mac fast asleep. She smiled to herself and turned her head back around to face Isla.

"Not yet, you wanna wake him up?" Stella grinned.

Isla nodded enthusiastically. Stella helped Isla stand up on the mattress and held her hand as the little girl stepped over her body. Stella turned over in the bed so that she was now facing Mac. Isla carefully sat down on top of Mac's chest and started poking at his cheeks.

"Wake up sleepy head." She giggled.

Mac felt the weight on his chest and the little fingers poking his face. Slowly he began to wake up. He yawned at opened up his eyes. He broke out in a grin when he saw Isla sitting on top of him. When her finger came close to his mouth, he opened up and pretended to bite down. Isla squealed and yanked her finger away.

Isla leant forward and rested on her elbows. She kissed Mac good morning and rolled over so she was lying in the middle of the bed. Stella reached her hand over and tickled Isla's belly causing the little girl to explode in to fits of giggles.

"I'll go wake mommy now." Isla said as she wriggled off of the edge of the bed.

Stella and Mac watched as Isla ran out of the room, laughing as she went. Mac reached his arm over and ran his hand through Stella's hair. He sat himself up against the head board and yawned.

"Morning" He smiled, looking down at Stella.

"Morning" She smiled back, moving over and resting her head on Mac's chest.

"So did you put her up to that?" He laughed, gesturing towards the door.

"Well, you needed waking up. Poking you in the face though, that was all her." Stella tried to stifle a giggle.

Slowly, they got out of bed and started getting ready for work. Stella started setting out breakfast for everyone while Mac showered. It wasn't long before Madeline and Nick were also up and getting ready for work. Isla ran through the apartment trying to avoid getting dressed.

As Stella was placing cereal bowls on the kitchen table, Madeline walked in to the room. Her long curly hair was pulled back in to a loose braid and wide eyes were lined with black liner.

"Morning mum" Madeline smiled, kissing Stella on the cheek.

"Hey, how did you sleep?" Stella asked, continuing to lay the table.

"Fine" She yawned.

Madeline poured out two bowls of cereal; a small one for Isla and a larger one for herself. It didn't take long for Isla to come bounding in to the kitchen. She skidded to a halt in front of the table and climbed up into her chair. She waited patiently for Madeline to pour milk into the bowl, before digging in.

"So Nick and I were thinking of maybe going away this weekend, do you think you and Mac could look after Isla?" Madeline asked, taking a bite of her breakfast.

"Of course" Stella replied, sitting down at the table. "Where are you gunna go?"

"I don't know, maybe Vegas. Neither of us has ever been." Madeline ran her hand down the back of Isla's hair.

"I'll come too!" Isla called out happily, kicking her legs back and forth.

"You're staying here with me and Mac, baby." Stella said, taking a sip of her coffee.

Isla looked mildly disappointed that she wouldn't get to go away. She looked up at Stella and frowned before going back to eating her breakfast. For 10 minutes it was just the girls in the kitchen.

"I gotta head down to the precinct before the office. I'm heading off now." Mac said.

He was clearly in a rush, as he buttoned up his shirt. Stella, being the dutiful girlfriend she was, held out her coffee mug and her slice of toast for Mac to take. He drank the warm coffee in 3 gulps. Mac put his jacket on and took the toast.

"I'll see you later." Stella smiled.

Mac kissed Stella goodbye. He walked round the side of the table and touched the top of Madeline's head before making his way around to Isla. He crouched down next to her chair. Without hesitation, Isla dropped her spoon in to the bowl and flung her arms around Mac's neck. He picked her up off of the chair and kissed her goodbye before setting her back down in her chair.

"Bye guys." He smiled as he walked out the door.

"See ya' Later, Mac." Nick grinned as he entered the kitchen.

Nick had a lot of respect Mac and everything that he did for them as a family and for the city in general. He knew that Mac was incredibly protective of his girls and he had done everything he could to earn Mac's trust and respect. Mac was almost like the father that he never had.

"Mornin'" Nick smiled.

He kissed each of them good morning and sat down to have breakfast. Stella got up and made herself a fresh cup of coffee and a slice of toast. As the toaster heated up, she watched her family enjoying breakfast together.

She saw the way Madeline would get all gooey-eyed whenever she looked at Nick. It made Stella so happy to see her daughter happy with someone after everything she had gone through with Isla's biological father. Nick was great guy and Stella loved having him around. Isla was absolutely in love with him. Over the past year she had taken to calling him 'daddy' which was a title he was incredibly proud of.

"So, Madeline tells me you guys are going away this weekend?" Stella said, sitting back down at the table.

"Yeah" He replied enthusiastically. "I mean...obviously if it's okay with you."

"Of course" She laughed at his flustered recovery. "If you're flying out, you should probably book the tickets today."

"I'll book them at work later. Vegas then?" She suggested, turning towards Nick.

He nodded in agreement; his mouth was full of cereal. Stella looked up at the clock and realised that she needed to head out to work soon. She took Isla's empty cereal bowl and washed it up, along with her plate and coffee mug.

"What time do you two get off work today?" She asked as she retrieving her gun and badge from the safe they were kept in.

"I finish at 3 so I'll go straight to the kindergarten." Madeline replied.

"I get off at 5 but I have an hour-long training session at 8:30." Nick said, tidying up the table.

"Great. Mac and I should be done around 6. We were gunna order food in. Chinese okay with you?"

"Can I have a fortune cookie?" Isla asked her face completely serious.

"Most definitely" Stella smiled.

Stella knelt down in front of Isla and held her arms open. Isla gave her a big hug and kisses, then ran off to play some more before school. Stella kissed Madeline and Nick goodbye and headed out the door.

The drive to work was quick, despite the traffic, and the rest of the day went by without too much trouble. It wasn't too long ago that she would be pulling overtime everyday just to avoid going back to her apartment, alone. Now, she couldn't wait to get back, knowing that Madeline and Isla would be there waiting for her.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you all for the response to the first chapter! Here, have an update. This ones got a lot of SMac in it. Please send me a message or leave a review!  
Bx**

**Disclaimer - I do not own CSI:NY or any of its characters. I only own Madeline, Isla and Nick.**

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**Chapter Two**

"Mommy, why can't I go with you?" Isla whined.

Madeline sighed and took a deep breath. This was the 5th time that day that Isla had asked that question. She hadn't stopped asking from the moment she found out that Madeline and Nick would be going away without her. Madeline stopped packing her case and sat down on the bed.

"Because you're too little and you have school on Monday. Stella and Mac are going to look after you." Madeline said calmly.

"I wanna stay with you." Isla pouted and climbed up on to Madeline's lap.

"I won't be gone long. And I'll bring you back a present." Madeline smiled, tapping her finger on the end of Isla's nose.

"You promise?" Isla grinned. Her eyes lit up at the mention of a present.

"I promise. But you have to be good for Stella, okay?" She reasoned.

"I'll be good, mommy." Isla nodded, looking very serious.

Isla wrapped her arms around Madeline. Madeline squeezed Isla tightly and fell back against the bed, the two of them laughing as the carefully folded pile of clothes toppled over. Madeline had taken Friday afternoon off of work to pack hers and Nick's things. She also wanted to spend as much time with Isla as possible before she left for the weekend.

Once Madeline had finally packed the cases, she and Isla set about making cupcakes for dessert. Madeline pulled her curls up in to a ponytail, and then pinned back Isla's hair. They washed their hands and got out all the ingredients they needed.

Madeline weighed and measured the butter, sugar and flour and set them out in separate little bowls. She cracked 3 eggs into another bowl. She was trying to do a lot of the fiddly bits so that Isla wouldn't make a huge mess.

"Okay, tip them all into the bowl." Madeline instructed.

She had her hand resting on the small of Isla's back, to support her while she stood on one of the kitchen chairs. Isla picked up the bowl of butter and emptied the contents. She then did the same to the sugar, flour and eggs. Isla could barely contain her laughter when the flour puffed up in a cloud. They mixed all the ingredients together and filled up the cupcake cases before putting the tray into the oven.

"Why don't you go get your colouring book while I get dinner ready?" Madeline suggested.

By 5 o'clock, everyone was home for work and settling down for an early dinner before they all headed off to the airport. Nick stuck the cases into the trunk of Mac's SUV and climbed into the back.

At the airport Isla chatted happily, she was excited to see the planes taking off and landing. For Madeline, the airport brought back bittersweet memories. The last time she had been here, she was arriving in New York for the first time, looking for her biological mother. The memory of it was clearly etched in her face, because she soon felt Stella's arm snaking around her shoulder.

"You okay?" She asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just remembering stuff." Madeline smiled.

"Good stuff or bad stuff?" Stella raised an eyebrow.

"Both." She nodded. "I was just, you know, thinking of how different everything was last time I was in this building."

"It seems like forever ago, doesn't it?" Stella said as they carried on walking.

Isla ran up to the two of them and tugged on Stella's arm. Stella picked her up and balanced the little girl on her hip. They walked together towards Mac and Nick who were standing at the check-in desk.

"You ready to go?" Nick asked, putting his arm around Madeline's waist.

"Yeah just a second" Madeline said as she checked herself and her bags in.

The five of them walked over to the departures gate. Isla held tight on to Madeline's hand as she realised that her mommy was actually going away. When they eventually reached the gate Isla tightened her grip.

Madeline hugged Mac and Stella tightly before breaking away and picking up her daughter. Isla wrapped her legs around Madeline's waist and her arms around her neck. Madeline rubbed her hand in circles on Isla's back.

"I love you, I'm gunna miss you." Madeline whispered in to Isla's ear.

"Love you too mommy." Isla whispered back.

Madeline planted a dozen kisses all over Isla's face, causing the little girl to burst out into fits of giggles. After more big hugs and kisses, Madeline handed Isla over to Stella.

"Have a great weekend and be careful. We'll see you in a few days." Stella smiled, still holding on to Isla.

"We will. Love you." Madeline said kissing Stella's cheek.

"Love you too." Stella said.

"And me too" Isla called out, determined not to be forgotten.

"Yeah baby and you too" Stella laughed, kissing Isla's cheek.

In the car ride on the way back home, Isla was incredibly quiet. Stella had sat in the backseat with her to keep an eye on her. The whole way home, Isla stared out of the window and frowned. Stella stretched her arm over and held on to Isla's hand.

"What's wrong baby?" Stella studied Isla's face.

"Is mommy gunna come back?" Isla turned her head to face Stella.

Stella could see the pained look in Isla's face. Since she was born, Madeline had barely left Isla's side and now she was gone.

"Of course she'll be back sweetie. She would never leave you." Stella smiled reassuringly.

"You promise?" Isla asked, though she still looked unsure.

"I promise." Stella smiled at the relived look on the girls face. "You wanna go get some ice-cream?"

Isla's eyes lit up and she nodded enthusiastically. Stella laughed and ordered Mac to drive towards an ice-cream shop. The car pulled up outside and they got out the car. Mac lifted Isla out of her car seat and carried her into the shop, with Stella following closely behind.

When they walked into the shop, Isla looked around in fascinated shock. Mac put her down on the floor and she ran straight up to the counter. She pressed her little hands up against the glass casing and stood up on her tiptoes. Isla took a moment to take in all the bright colours of the ice-cream.

Mac ordered Isla a bowl of strawberry bubblegum ice-cream with rainbow sprinkles, and then he ordered a chocolate sundae for him and Stella to share.

The three of them sat in a booth at the back of the store. They talked and ate until Isla started falling asleep in her ice-cream bowl. Mac picked Isla up and carried her back to the car while Stella paid the bill.

"You ready to go?" Stella smiled when she got to the car.

"Yeah, she's not going to last the car ride though." Mac chuckled, gesturing in Isla's direction.

"Do you think she's going to be okay this weekend?" Stella asked.

"She'll be fine; we just need to keep her busy." Mac kissed Stella's cheek and walked around to the driver's side of the car.

They both climbed into the car and sped off home. Once they had reached the apartment, Isla was already fast asleep in Stella's arms. She gently woke her up and got her changed for bed. After that, it wasn't long before Stella and Mac also crashed, falling asleep on the sofa. They knew they needed a lot of sleep for the busy weekend ahead.

The weekend was spent going everywhere from the zoo to the park. All weekend, Isla was a little ball of energy. She had Mac and Stella chasing her around the whole time. Just when they thought she had finally tired herself out, she would catch a second wind and shoot off again.

"Mac, quickly, come and see the baby monkey!" Isla called out at the zoo, as she ran off in the opposite direction of the way they were walking.

Stella had followed behind as Mac quickened his pace, trying to get to Isla before she decided to go running again. Isla erupted into fits of giggles whenever Mac caught up with her. He would pick her up and lift her onto his shoulders.

When they went to the park, it was Stella's turn to do the chasing. Isla dragged her on everything. Stella had helped Isla climb across the monkey bars, pushed her on the swings and crawled through a metal tunnel more times than she could count.

By the time Sunday night came around, Stella and Mac were exhausted. With Isla fed, bathed and fast asleep in bed, the couple settled down on the couch with a bottle of wine and a bowl of popcorn.

"I feel like I've just ran the marathon." Stella yawned.

"If we had half of her energy, our job would be a hell of a lot easier." Mac took a sip of wine.

"Everything seems better with her around, you know? All the tragedy we see, all of the pain and heartache that we deal with every day can really take it out of you. Coming home and seeing her smiling and laughing, it's like a weight being lifted." Stella sighed happily.

Stella lay back against the arm of the couch, her feet resting on Mac's lap. Mac stretched his arm out, taking her hand in his.

"It's the innocence of childhood. It sort of puts everything into perspective." Mac agreed.

"You know, after I gave Madeline up for adoption, I never thought I'd have to do any of this. When she came to New York to find me, I had my daughter back in my life. And then I find out that she's pregnant, and Isla comes along. I got a second chance at a family but maybe I'm too old for this." She sighed.

"You're not old, Stella." Mac laughed. He traced circles on the back of Stella's hand.

"I'm gunna be 41 next year, that's pretty old. The clock is ticking." She frowned. "I don't know, I guess I just feel like time is running out."

"Time's not running out Stell." Mac tried to reassure her.

"My daughter has a daughter. I'm a grandmother. I became a grandmother before I was really a mother." Stella said sadly.

"You're Madeline's mother regardless. Sure you may not have raised her but you are still her mother." Mac kissed the back of Stella's hand.

"I love Isla to pieces, and I love having her here but she's just made me realise how much I've missed. When I saw Isla learn to walk and how to talk, it made me realise how much I missed out on Madeline's baby days." Stella closed her eyes and took a drink of wine.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Mac said.

"You do?" Stella raised an eyebrow.

"Claire and I never had kids. It was never the right time and Claire gave up Reed when he was a baby. I just didn't think about wanting kids until it was too late." Mac shrugged.

"I guess we were both too committed to our jobs." Stella said quietly. "Does that make us selfish?"

"No, it doesn't make us selfish." Mac shook his head, though internally he wasn't entirely sure.

"You'd make a great father Mac." Stella said honestly.

Mac didn't respond, he just chuckled and shook his head. He took another drink of his wine. Stella narrowed her eyes and watched him carefully. It hung there in the air. Neither one wanted to say it out-loud but they both felt it.

They went to bed shortly after, the conversation still whirring around in both of their heads. Taking care of Isla, just the two of them, had brought up feelings that they had both been trying desperately to suppress.

It wasn't too late for them. If anything, now was the perfect time for them to start a family of their own. They just had to make it happen.

"Night Mac." Stella whispered into the darkness, closing her eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you for all your reviews guys! For the people that read this story, would you rather longer or shorter chapters? Thanks guys!  
Bx**

**Disclaimer - I do not own CSI:NY or any of it's characters. The only characters I own are Madeline, Isla and Nick.**

**Chapter Three**

Stella waited anxiously at the airport. She sipped at her takeaway latte while she waited for Madeline and Nick's airplane to come in. That morning, Isla had been bouncing around the apartment in anticipation of her mother coming home.

"Is mommy gunna be here soon?" Isla had asked almost as soon as she woke up.

"Once you get home from school, she'll be here." Stella laughed as she tied up Isla's hair.

"Mommy said she's getting me a present." Isla announced proudly. Stella could practically feel the excitement oozing out of her.

"She did? Well, you're a very lucky girl." Stella smiled.

"Yup" She nodded enthusiastically. "Is she gunna get you and Mac a present, Stella?"

"I don't know sweetie. We'll have to wait and see." Stella said as she kissed the top of Isla's head.

"Do we get to go to the airport again?" Isla asked, skipping away from Stella.

Stella led Isla into the kitchen and poured out a bowl of cereal for the little girl and a mug of coffee for herself. Mac had already left for work so the apartment was relatively quiet since it was just the two of them.

"I have to go to the airport, but you're going to be at school." Stella smiled, seeing the look of disappointment on Isla's face. "Now, eat up or we're going to be late."

Reluctantly, Isla finished breakfast and started getting ready for school. Stella dropped her off at school and then drove herself to work. She worked at the lab all morning, up until she had to leave for the airport.

She tapped her foot impatiently as she stood outside the arrivals gate. They should've been here half an hour ago. Looking back, she was kind of glad she didn't have to pick Madeline up the first time she came to New York. That was a level of stress that even she wouldn't have been able to handle.

"Mum!" Stella heard Madeline call out.

Madeline dropped her suitcase and took off in a run towards Stella. When she finally reached her, she flung her arms around her mother. They hugged tightly, neither one of them wanting to break away. It wasn't long before Nick had caught up with Stella and Madeline. Nick hugged Stella and kissed her on the cheek.

"Oh I missed you guys!" Stella said, "How was Vegas?"

Madeline and Nick looked coyly at each other. It was a look that was so quick that Stella wasn't even certain she had seen it. She decided that she probably didn't want to know what they were thinking.

"It was incredible! I thought London was over the top!" Madeline grinned.

The 3 of them walked left the airport and walked out to Stella's car. They drove back to the apartment with Madeline and Nick sharing stories of their trip. They had managed to win a bit of money which they had put into Isla's college fund.

"She's been going crazy all morning." Stella laughed as she pulled the car up outside the apartment building.

"I missed her so much. I can't wait to go and get her from school." Madeline smiled.

"Mac and I won't be home until 6, we'll bring home dinner. You can finish telling us about your trip. I want to know everything." Stella said through the car window.

"Awesome, thanks mum." Madeline leant through the window and kissed Stella's cheek. "Thank you for picking us, love you."

"Love you too."Stella replied. "I'll see you later."

Stella drove off back towards the office, leaving Madeline and Nick at the apartment. As she made her way through the traffic, she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was going on. Stella was almost at the office when her phone rang.

"Bonasera" She answered, clicking the hands-free button on the phone.

"Hey Stell its Flack" He replied.

"Hey Flack, what's up?" She asked.

"Are you still at the office?"

"No, I'm on my way there now. Why, did you need something?"

"Yeah can you swing by the precinct? I need to talk to Mac about a suspect on the Riverson case."

"Sure. I'll be there in 15 minutes." She said before hanging up the phone.

Stella redirected the car and started driving towards the precinct. Mid-town traffic allowed her to get to the precinct quicker than she had anticipated and she was pulling up outside only 10 minutes later.

"We got a dead body I don't know about?" Flack questioned as he climbed into the car.

"No, just picking the lovebirds up from JFK." Stella laughed.

"JFK? Oh yeah, they've been in Vegas all weekend." Flack chuckled to himself as he plugged his seatbelt in. "You get all the hot gossip yet?"

"I don't think I even want to know. What happens in Vegas...?" She trailed off.

"Yeah, let's hope so." He grinned.

Stella leaned across the divide and smacked his arm. They drove the rest of the way in relative silence. Occasionally Flack would make an inappropriate comment about Vegas, earning him an eye-roll. Stella stopped the car outside the lab building.

"Get the hell outta my car." Stella winked. "I'll be up in a minute."

"See ya later grandma." Flack laughed and slammed the car door.

Stella rolled her eyes and drove round to the NYPD parking lot. She parked her SUV and headed into the building. She worked in the lab for the rest of the afternoon. It was a long and fairly un-eventful afternoon and all she wanted to do was get home.

"Are you ready to...?" Mac asked as he stuck head into Stella's office.

Stella was up and out the door before Mac had a chance to finish his question. He chuckled as she walked quickly away from him, sticking her arms into her coat sleeves. By the time he caught up with her, she was stepping into the elevator.

"Is there a reason you're in such a rush?" Mac said as he got in.

"No." She smiled. "I'm not in a rush."

She jabbed her finger into the button marked G several times. Mac watched in fascination as she continued to stab the button until the elevator doors closed. He turned to face Stella and raised an eyebrow.

"I just want to get home. Something's going on, I just have a...feeling." Stella said, sounding slightly impatient.

"We'll be home soon." Mac smiled and kissed her.

He slipped is arm around her waist and she nestled her head into his shoulder. When they arrived home, dinner in hand, they were greeted by Isla who jumped up into Stella's arms. The little girl was wearing a white t-shirt over the top of her dress. The shirt had a large picture of the famous 'Welcome to Vegas' sign printed on it.

"Isn't it pretty?" Isla had said proudly, pulling the shirt outwards.

As they went into the kitchen, Isla went through all of her presents, showing them off to Mac and Stella. Madeline and Nick shared stories of their weekend and Isla did the same. It felt great to have everyone back in one city again. They talked and laughed as they served up dinner.

It wasn't until they all sat down for dinner that things started to get awkward. Madeline had gone unusually quiet while they ate. The only person she made eye-contact with was Isla. She couldn't hold anyone else's gaze. It was Nick that prompted her to talk. He nudged her in the ribs with his elbow.

"Um...we kinda need to tell you guys something." Madeline muttered, still not looking up from her plate.

Stella rested her cutlery down on the edge of her plate. She took a big gulp of water, the panic already rising inside of her. Mac looked at the young couple, trying to use his detective training to figure out whether they really should be concerned. Isla seemed completely oblivious to it all.

"Do we need to be worried?" Stella asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, no, not worried. I mean...we haven't done anything illegal. It's not like we're in trouble. It's just..." Madeline stammered out.

"Madeline please..." Stella started to speak, her voice sounded like it was about to break.

"We got married." Madeline whispered.

No-one said anything. Even Isla could sense something was going on. She could see the look on all of the adults faces. She could feel the tension and it was uncomfortable. Mac saw Stella struggling to come up with something to say. Just as he was about to talk, Stella slammed her hand down on the table.

"You got married? What the hell were you thinking Madeline?" She shouted.

"I don't know." Madeline retorted.

"You don't know? That's not good enough." Stella stood up out of her chair.

Mac put his hand on Stella's shoulder, hoping to calm her down. She shrugged him off and made towards the door. Madeline sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. She knew that there was nothing she could say to make this any better. She had never seen Stella so pissed off.

Stella stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her. She got into the elevator and pounded her fist against the wall. Just as the door was about to close, a hand slipped through the metal doors and forced them open again. Mac stood there, a concerned look on his face.

"You okay?" He asked.

Stella shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. She quickly brushed away a fallen tear. Mac stepped into the elevator and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her forehead and rocked her side to side.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews/favorites/follows! Hopefully this chapter will explain a few things! Enjoy & leave a review!  
Bx**

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**Chapter Four**

A week had gone by and Stella and Madeline had barely spoken. Mac and Nick were being used as go-between's, passing on various messages. Isla, thankfully, seemed to be oblivious to it all. She didn't really understand that her mommy and Nick had gotten married.

"D'ya think they're going to get through this soon?" Nick asked Mac one evening.

"Honestly? I don't know. I've known Stella for nearly 15 years and I've never seen her so angry." Mac shrugged his shoulders and took a swig of his beer.

"I'm sorry that it happened like this, Mac." Nick said, looking down at his hands.

"I know you are, Nick. Stella's just hurt. She doesn't like not knowing things. I guess that's what makes her a great detective." Mac smiled to himself.

"We didn't plan to get married, you know. That wasn't why we went to Vegas. It just kinda...happened." Nick tried to justify their actions.

"You can see why she's upset though, right?" Mac questioned.

"Yeah, Maddie can too. She just won't admit it. She's too stubborn." Nick nodded.

"Just like her mother." Mac laughed.

They sat quietly for a little while, drinking their beers. Isla walked into the room in her pyjama's with her wet hair in braids and climbed up onto Nick's lap. She picked up a red crayon from the table and began scribbling in her colouring book.

"Mommy's crying." Isla said, looking up at Nick.

"I'll go make sure she's okay." Nick said.

He kissed the top of Isla's head and stood up, sitting Isla back down on the chair. Isla carried on with her drawing while Mac began putting away the dishes.

"Mac, where's Stella?" Isla asked, not looking up.

"She's gone out running. She'll be back soon." Mac dragged a chair next to Isla and sat down.

"Stella and mommy are mad at each other aren't they?" She frowned.

"Yeah, a little bit." Mac said.

He didn't want to completely lie to her; it wasn't fair to the little girl. Seeing the heartbroken look on Isla's face, he decided that enough was enough. When Stella got home, he would talk to her about it. He knew that he had a better chance of convincing Stella to cave and talk to Madeline.

Stella's feet pounded the pavement as she rounded the corner and headed towards the apartment building. Sweat trickled down the back of her neck and she ran fasters, closing in the last 100 meters. When she reached the stairs, she stopped and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.

The cool shower was a relief on all of her aching muscles as she let the water was over her. Ever since the argument with Madeline, she had been running every night for double the length of time she usually would. It helped her forget that her daughter had gone behind her back and gotten married in Vegas. Just thinking about it brought back a fresh wave of anger.

When she got out of the shower, she wrapped a towel around her and walked into the bedroom where she slipped on her pyjamas. She dropped down onto the bed and leant her head back on the pillows. Within minutes, Mac walked in and sat down next to her, leaning against the headboard.

"Hey." Stella smiled.

"Good run?" Mac asked; he put his arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah, thanks. Has everything been okay here?" She asked, nestling into Mac's side.

"It's been...eventful, I guess. Nick feels bad and Isla realised something was wrong when she saw Madeline crying in her room." Mac said, taking a pause. "This needs to end Stella."

Stella didn't say anything. He wondered if he had over-stepped the line, but he knew that it needed to be said. Mac didn't expect her to barge into Madeline's room right now, but they needed to talk.

"I know." Stella eventually whispered.

"So you're going to talk to her?" Mac said, slightly surprised that she had taken it so well.

"Yeah, I just...don't know what to say." Stella admitted. It was rare for her to be at a loss for words.

"Congratulations?" Mac jokingly suggested.

Stella hit his side and laughed. Maybe he was right. She probably did owe her congratulations, even if she didn't approve of the circumstances. Deep down, she was happy for her daughter. She was happy that Madeline had found someone she loved and who loved her back. She just hated to think that this might end badly.

"I overreacted didn't I?" Stella finally admitted.

"You both did." Mac smiled and kissed her.

"Oh, I screwed up." Stella shook her head.

"Yeah, but it can be fixed. One of you just needs to do the grown up thing."

"And it's got to be me?" Stella looked up at Mac.

"You're the grown up remember?" He laughed.

"Well, I'm not working tomorrow morning; I'll talk to her then."

"It'll be fine." Mac said trying to reassure her.

"Yeah, I hope so." Stella replied sadly.

They made idle small talk, discussing their days, until they both drifted into a deep sleep, with Stella still lying comfortably in Mac's arms. For the first time in a week, Stella slept peacefully, knowing that tomorrow she would make everything right again.

Stella spent the next morning worrying. She paced her bedroom floor several times before she actually left the room. Her stomach was in knots. She felt like she was going to throw up any second. She waited until everyone had left the apartment and Madeline had returned from taking Isla to school. She sat at the kitchen table with two large mugs of tea, waiting.

"Hey." Stella said quietly as Madeline walked into the room.

"Morning" Madeline bit her lip.

"I, uh, made you some tea." Stella said.

"Oh, thank you." She smiled.

Madeline sat down in the chair opposite Stella. Stella pushed the mug in Madeline's direction and smiled. It was uncomfortable to say the least. They didn't say anything for a short while, they just drunk their tea and avoided looking at each other.

"I am sorry. I didn't want it come out like that." Madeline said eventually.

"I shouldn't have gotten so mad. You're an adult and you can make your own decisions. I'm sorry." Stella replied.

"It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. I swear we didn't go there to get married. Nick had just won some money, we were kinda drunk and I don't know...it seemed like a good idea at the time." Madeline shrugged her shoulders. "We walked past a 24 hour chapel and Nick suggested it and I didn't want to say no."

"Well, it sounds romantic." Stella laughed and smiled.

"Yeah, it was really romantic." Madeline laughed too and rolled her eyes.

"I guess I owe you congratulations?" Stella reached across the table and held Madeline's hand.

"Thanks." Madeline replied.

"Can I just ask why you did it?" Stella asked, not wanting to push Madeline too far.

Madeline loosened her grip on Stella's hand. She bit her lip and looked away from Stella. The uncomfortable feeling in the room returned quickly. Stella knew she'd hit a nerve, she just didn't know which one.

"Sweetie?" Stella prompted.

That's when the tears started. Madeline tightened her grip again, suddenly not wanting to let Stella go. It was a sudden rush of emotion that Stella didn't understand. She got up out of her chair and went around the table to Madeline. She crouched down in front of her and took hold of both of Madeline's hands.

"I...I cheated...on Nick." She said through her tears.

Stella's eyes widened in shock, she definitely wasn't expecting that. She stood up and leaned over Madeline, bringing her into a hug. Stella let Madeline cry for a little while; she didn't really know what to say. She took a tissue from the counter and wiped Madeline's eyes.

"Okay, explain?" Stella said after Madeline had stopped crying.

"It was stupid, so incredibly stupid." She sniffed.

"Does Nick...?" Stella started talking.

"He knows. The worst part is that he wasn't even mad. He forgave me, just like that. When he said we should get married, I agreed because, because it was like the ultimate way I could make it up to him. I felt so guilty." Madeline muttered, tears had started rolling down her cheeks again.

"Honey, when did this all happen?" Stella asked, still trying to wrap her head around it.

"A few months ago" Madeline stared down at her hands.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Stella asked, almost hurt.

"I don't know. I didn't want anyone to know. I'm not exactly proud of it." She mumbled. "Are you mad at me?"

"No, I'm not mad. I just...I need to know, were you at least careful?" Stella said, cautiously.

"Yes. Oh my God, yes. I'm stupid, I'm not that stupid." Madeline said defensively.

Stella didn't say anything; she simply nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. Madeline felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. It was like she could finally think clearly again. She had been desperate to tell Stella, to tell anyone, but it didn't feel right. Stella was glad to finally have everything out in the open but she couldn't deny that she felt slightly disappointed in Madeline. This could've easily been solved without the need to get married.

"So what are you going to do?" Stella asked as she sat back down at one of the chairs.

"What do you mean?" Madeline replied, looking confused.

"Well, are you going to stay married or are you going to try and get an annulment?"

Madeline shook her head. Honestly, she hadn't thought about it. She didn't once consider that there were other options. She had naively assumed that they would just stay married. Divorce didn't seem like an option that either of them could afford.

"Can we even get an annulment?" Madeline inquired.

"You got married in Vegas, and you were both drunk. I'm pretty sure you'd qualify." Stella smiled, trying to make light of the situation.

"We have talked about it a little bit. We sort of tried to forget about it. That's crazy, right? Like we could just forget about being married, kinda like when I tried to pretend I wasn't pregnant." Madeline laughed.

Stella looked over at Madeline and raised an eyebrow. Madeline saw the look on Stella's face and wrinkled her nose, before bursting into laughter again.

"Is it still too soon for those kinda jokes?" Madeline grinned.

"Yeah, it might be." Stella nodded, laughing.

"I'll talk to Nick tonight. I still can't believe we actually got married." Madeline shook her head, a look of disbelief on her face.

"Well whatever you decide to do, I'm here for you." Stella rested her hand on top of Madeline's.

Madeline nodded and smiled, she didn't feel the need to say anything. She knew that Stella would be there for her and she appreciated it so much. There wasn't anything she could say to fully express how grateful she was.

"Are we okay now?" Stella asked.

"Yeah, thanks mum." Madeline stood up and put her arms around Stella's waist.

"Love you, Madeline." Stella kissed Madeline's cheek.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Not a lot of love for the last chapter! Did you guys not like it? Hopefully you like this better. Let me know what I did wrong last time!  
****Bx**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

After Stella had left for work, Madeline lay down on her bed and sobbed. She wasn't really sad but she had spent so long holding everything in that she now couldn't stop it. They were partly tears of relief, knowing that she had finally come clean and the Stella wasn't angry at her. Madeline huddled under the bed covers until she had finally stopped the tears. She felt exhausted and completely drained but her brain was too wired for her to try and take a nap.

"Babe?" Nick called out as he walked in the door on his lunch break.

He wandered through the apartment, looking for Madeline, knowing that she was home from work that day. When he realised she was in their bedroom, the feeling of excitement was fleeting upon seeing her red-rimmed eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong baby?" He frowned.

Nick lay down on the bed next to Madeline. He put his arm around her and she turned her body to face him. Nick pulled her in closely. Madeline looked up at him and smiled slightly.

"I told Stella everything." She whispered.

"You did? How did it go?" He stroked his thumb across her forehead.

"Really well actually, she wasn't even mad." Madeline sighed. "Why am I such a screw up?"

"You're not a screw up Maddie." Nick said as he kissed her.

"What are we gunna do?" She rested her hand on his cheek and kissed him softly.

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking confused.

"Are we going to stay married? Stella reckons we're eligible for an annulment, but I don't know, that feels so final. What do you think?" She shrugged.

"Maddie, I love you. We may have rushed this whole marriage thing but I love you and I wanna be with you forever. Let's stay married. We're a family, me, you and Isla." Nick smiled, still holding on to Madeline.

Madeline looked up at her husband and smiled. Tears began forming in her eyes. Up until she met Nick, she had only ever been in bad relationships. Nick treated her right. He loved her and he looked after her. Isla thought of him as her father and she knew that he would do anything for her. He was perfect in every way and he was all hers.

Nick cupped Madeline's face in his hands and kissed her repeatedly.

"I love you." She whispered as Nick wiped away her tears.

"I love you too baby." Nick held her tighter.

"So we're going to do it? We're really going to stay married?" Madeline asked, her eyes lighting up.

"I wouldn't have it any other way. Listen, Maddie, I've been thinking that maybe we should look into getting our place or something? You know, close to this building. Or even in this building if we can." Nick suggested.

Madeline didn't say anything in reply. A huge grin spread across her face and she nodded enthusiastically. She could tell from the look on Nick's face that he had wanted to ask her for a while. He looked relieved. Now he was her turn to do the brave thing. She had her own question that she desperately wanted to ask. The only way she could say it was to blurt it out.

"Nick would you consider officially adopting Isla?" She asked with baited breath.

Nick looked down at her, trying to register what she had just said. He didn't know what to say. Well, that's not true, he knew exactly what he wanted to say, he just didn't know how he was going to say it.

"Are you serious?" He questioned, wanting to make sure.

"Oh." Madeline looked crest-fallen. "I was serious. Is that a bad idea? I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry." She started to pull away from him but he wouldn't let go.

"Yes." He said simply. "I want us to be a real family."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Across town, the elevator doors opened up and Stella stepped into the lab. She practically skipped into Mac's office feeling ten times better for talking to Madeline. Okay, so her daughter had gone behind her back and gotten married but it could be worse. At least she was happy and healthy, that was the most important thing.

When she walked up to Mac's office, she wasn't surprised to see him concentrating hard on the paper surrounding him. The triple homicide case he was currently working was taking all of his attention, though he was now extra careful not to bring work home. Before he'd moved in with Stella, he wouldn't think twice about going over work at home, laying out crime scene photos and trace results on the coffee table. With Isla around, there had been more than a few times where she had walked in the room and nearly seen all the pictures. It wasn't a risk worth taking.

Mac looked up from his work when he heard the elevator doors ping open. He smiled proudly as his beautiful, curly-haired girlfriend walked through the doors and made a b-line towards his office. He put down the papers in preparation and used his foot to kick the opposite chair out from under the desk.

"Hey" Stella smiled as she opened Mac's office door.

She walked back behind Mac's desk and rested her hands on his shoulders before leaning in and kissing his cheek. He rested his hand on hers before she let go and went to sit down.

"So, how did it go?" Mac asked, jumping straight to the point.

"Well, let's see, a few months ago my daughter cheated on her then-boyfriend and felt so guilty that she got married, behind my back, to prove that she did love him. All in all, I'd say it was rather a productive morning." Stella rattled off, barely stopping for air.

"And you're happy about this?" Mac chuckled and raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, no, but I'm not unhappy either. Things could always be worse." She replied.

"Positive attitude, I like it." He nodded in approval.

"Thanks." She said cheerily. "Madeline said that they would decide what they're going to do. I suggested maybe looking into an annulment if they didn't want to stay married. I guess we'll see."

"So we could either be going home to a love shack or a war zone? This is going to be interesting to say the least." Mac laughed, spinning slightly in his chair.

"I'm hoping it's the first." Stella sighed.

She leant back in the chair and rubbed her forehead. It had been a long and stressful morning but that worst of it was over. She didn't have to worry anymore. Stella closed her eyes for a few minutes and took a deep breath.

"Stell, you okay?" Mac asked, his brow creased in concern.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just feel a little dizzy. It'll pass." She took a gulp of the coffee on Mac's desk and stood up. "I'll see you later."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Stella was the last one home that evening, having had to stay late in an interrogation. When she finally made it to the apartment door, she unlocked it with a sigh of relief.

Everyone was sat on the couch in the front room while Isla danced around the whole apartment. Stella laughed as she watched Isla stop every few seconds to re-adjust her tiara.

"Hey baby." She smiled, crouching down on the floor.

"Stella!" Isla called out and ran towards her.

Stella hugged the little girl and kissed her on the nose. Isla giggled and tapped Stella on the head with her magic wand. The two of the walked into the kitchen and Stella poured herself a large glass of water.

"How was school today?" Stella asked.

"I played a fairy in the morning and painted a picture." She grinned happily, and then her face fell into a frown and she looked troubled. It didn't escape Stella's notice.

"What's the matter? Did something bad happen?"

"And I fell down and cutted my knee."

"Oh you did?" Stella smiled sympathetically.

"Yeah, but I gots a pink band-aid, look!" Isla said proudly, kicking her leg out.

"Well that's pretty cool." Stella laughed. "C'mon let's go see mommy."

Stella took hold of Isla's hand and led her into the front room. She sat her glass down on the coffee table and settled down next to Mac. He stretched his arm out and rested it on her shoulder.

"Hey" Mac smiled.

"How's everybody doing?" She asked as she nestled into Mac's side.

"The newlyweds have some big news. We've been waiting for you to get home." Mac replied.

Stella sat up slightly and looked over at Madeline and Nick. She hoped that this would be about their talk earlier on in the day. She also hoped that this would be good news. Stella noted that the couple were sitting closely and holding hands. They certainly didn't look like a couple that were about to get divorced.

"What have you decided?" Stella asked anxiously. She twisted her fingers nervously.

"We're going to start looking for our own place." Madeline said, watching Stella carefully.

"You're moving out?" Stella said sadly.

Madeline nodded. She waited for Stella to explode. Mac looked down at Stella and squeezed her hand. It was only a small gesture but it gave her all the comfort that she needed in the moment.

"We, uh, we're looking for places near here though. Even in the same building if we can. We're not going far Stella." Nick reassured.

"And there's one more thing." Madeline added.

The anxious feeling started to rise in Stella's chest again. She bit her lip in anticipation of bad news. They were already going to move out, what more could they throw at her?

"We decided that Nick is going to adopt Isla, so we can be a real family!" Madeline said excitedly.

It took a moment for Stella to process. This was good news, wasn't it? She hadn't heard wrong. It was like a light bulb moment. A switch went off in her head and she jumped up off of the couch. Sensing her mother's movement's Madeline did the same thing and they met half way between the two couches in a warm hug. It was exciting seeing Madeline so happy after this morning. Nick soon stood up and hugged Stella as well. With everyone in an emotional bundle in the middle of the room, Mac followed suit and joined the group. He hugged and kissed Madeline and shook Nick's hand. Soon they all broke away, all of them with a huge smile on their face.

"That's amazing! Have you told Isla yet?" Stella asked, clearly overjoyed.

"Not yet. We're gunna take her out at the weekend and tell her." Nick replied. He wrapped his arm around Madeline's waist.

"We should do something to celebrate!" Stella clapped her hands together excitedly.

"Stella, you've got that look in your eye. What are you thinking?" Mac raised an eyebrow.

"I'm thinking this weekend, we get everyone round, have dinner and drinks. Nothing big you know? Then they can tell everyone about...everything!" Stella grinned. "Oh c'mon, don't look at me like that! I'll do all the cooking, it'll be fun!"

"I think it sounds great." Madeline agreed.

"Yeah, how 'bout we do it on Sunday night? Then Isla will know everything." Nick suggested.

"Great! Sunday it is then. Say around 7:30? No-one's working, right?" Stella asked.

That night as they lay in bed, Mac noticed the slightly uncomfortable look on Stella's face. He couldn't tell whether she was upset, angry or just tired.

"How are you feeling?" Mac asked Stella.

"I'm okay, I think. I don't know if I'm going down with something maybe." She sighed.

"Are you sure you want to do dinner this weekend then?" Mac was concerned.

"Are you kidding? I can't wait!" She yawned, her excitement was clear. She drifted to sleep while she mentally planned out the weekend, a contented smile on her face.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you for the last chapter reviews! This is a very important chapter. It will basically set everything out for the rest of the story. I'm still not sure how I feel about the chapter, but I hope you all enjoy it! Leave me a review, let me know what you think :)  
Bx**

**Disclaimer: I do not own CSI:NY or any of its characters. **

* * *

**Chapter Six**

Stella groaned and covered her face with the pillow. It was too early for her to be awake and she was too old to be this hung over. She rubbed her head and yawned. Did she even drink that much? She hadn't intended to drink anything. Was it 2 or 3 glasses of wine across the evening? She was fairly sure it hadn't been more than that. Her eyes darted towards the alarm clock on the bedside table. She still had a couple of hours until work

From what she could remember the dinner party was a complete success. There was a lot of laughing and a lot of congratulating. Madeline and Nick had told everyone about the Vegas wedding, the plans to move and Nick adopting Isla. She hadn't felt so terrible in such a long time.

"Mac...?" She grumbled, turning over in the bed.

Mac was sitting up in the bed reading. He looked down at Stella and smiled. He leant forward and kissed her good morning. She tried to reciprocate the kiss but she didn't have the energy to lift herself up any higher.

"Good morning. How are you feeling today?" He asked, stroking her hair.

"Did I drink a lot last night?" Her eyes squinted against the bright light in the room. "I feel awful."

"No, you didn't even get through a bottle of wine." Mac said.

"Really?" She asked, slightly shocked. "I didn't think I'd had much but this is the worst hangover I've had in a long, long time."

"Do you want me to sign you off of work?" Mac asked her, really concerned.

"I'll be fine, really." She said dismissively.

Stella kissed Mac and rolled out of bed. She slowly made her way to the bathroom, rubbing her aching stomach as she went. Each step she took brought on a fresh wave of nausea. After switching the shower on, the steam quickly filled the bathroom and she started to wake up.

Being up and moving certainly wasn't making her feel any better but it was taking her mind off of it. There were a few moments where she thought she was going to through up, but she managed to stop herself by drinking cold water. Eventually the nausea and dizziness went away and she didn't feel like she was going to drop at any second. Throughout the morning, she would catch Mac looking at her with an unsure look on his face. He was trying to decide whether or not he should force her to stay home from work today. He wanted to make sure that she really did feel well enough to go.

"I'm fine Mac." She insisted as he joined her at the table for breakfast.

"Oh, really, then why aren't you eating anything?" He questioned, gesturing towards the untouched plate of toast in front of her.

"I'm not hungry." She shrugged.

She wasn't completely lying. She really wasn't hungry; the thought of eating it though did make her stomach churn. Stella sipped at her strong coffee, hoping that it would give her the energy she needed to get work.

"Stella if you're sick..." Mac had begun to say.

"I am not sick." She interjected.

"Yeah but if you are then there's no problem just taking a day off. I don't want you at the office or out in the field if you're not feeling up too it." Mac finished.

"I'm not sick. C'mon, we better get going or we're going to be late." She stood up and gulped down the last of her coffee and dumped the toast in the trash.

Mac watched her as she started getting her things together to leave. He knew that there was no chance that he could convince her to take some time off. She was far too stubborn, and insisted that she knew best. Mac shook his head and grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair.

As Mac drove them to work, he noticed how Stella was quickly paling. By the time they reached the office her skin must've been 2 or 3 shades lighter than when they left the apartment. He gave her the benefit of the doubt and let her go out into the field when a case came up.

Stella took a deep breath before walking under the crime scene tape and over to where the female db lay. Flack had already begun interviewing potential witnesses. Danny was crouched down next to the body, looking at the area surrounding and trying to piece the story together.

"Hey Danny, what've we got?" She asked, starting to feel queasy.

"Alana Blanchard, 23, her I.D was in her pocket." He said, handing Stella the girl's wallet.

"Anything to suggest it was a homicide?" Stella said looking through the wallet.

"Nah, there's nothing that I can see anyway. I mean, there's no obvious wound, no blood anywhere, and no-one saw anything. I dunno, I guess Sid will be able to figure something out when she's on the table." Danny stood up next to Stella.

"Well, we'll have to wait and see if we have a case here. I need to head back to the lab, are you okay to finish up here?" Stella sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"Yeah, I don't have much to do anyway." He said as he stretched his arms out in front of him. "Thanks for last night Stell."

"No problem." She smiled. "I'm glad you could make it."

"How're you feeling? Mac said you woke up a little shaky."

"It's probably just a cold. I'll catch you later, Danny." She waved goodbye.

"See ya later." He called after her.

Being on her feet all morning certainly wasn't doing Stella any favours. As she walked down the street towards the office, a fresh coffee in her hand, each street vendor made her queasy. Stella tried her best to walk as far on the other side of the sidewalk as possible. She clutched at her stomach and took several deep breaths.

She pulled out her cell phone and hit Mac's number. As the phone rang, she leant up against a concrete building, slightly doubled over. The coffee was still too hot to drink but she was so desperate for the energy buzz she sipped on it carefully.

"Taylor." He answered bluntly.

"You were right." She admitted.

"I was?" Mac asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I probably shouldn't have come in to work today. Is it okay if I do the paperwork at home and come in to the lab later this afternoon?" Stella almost pleaded.

Mac laughed and shook his head. He knew that it took a lot for Stella to admit defeat; she didn't like taking time off of work. He worried about her, knowing how much it took for her to ask to go home.

"Of course, I'd rather you were home. Do you want me to bring anything over?" The concern was clear in his tone.

"No, thank you. I'll be fine. I'm just going to work until Isla get's home and then I'll come back." She yawned.

"Okay, call me if you need anything." Mac said.

"I will, love you." Stella replied.

"Love you too." And he hung up the phone.

Stella spent an hour sitting at the desk before she gave up on the notion of paperwork. She felt fine now anyway. She shut down the laptop with a frustrated sigh and went into the kitchen. She picked up her purse and put her shoes on.

"If you can't sleep and you can't work, you may as well be productive." She recited quietly to herself.

She made a quick note of the groceries they needed and headed out of the apartment. Since it was the middle of the day, the store was relatively quiet. She was able to make her way through the aisles without too much hassle. The cart started to fill up as she made pulled things from the shelves.

She rounded the corner into the toiletries aisle; she picked up shampoo, conditioner and bubble bath before dropping the various bottles into the cart. As she reached the feminine hygiene section, she pulled the cart to one side and did some quick calculations in her head. And then it hit her. She didn't need anything, and she didn't need anything last month either.

"Oh crap." She said out loud, the little remaining colour draining from her face.

Stella practically ran with the shopping. She raced towards the pharmacy section of the store and frantically scanned the shelves. There was an over-whelming amount of choice. Just as she was about to pick up one of the boxes, she stopped herself. This wasn't really necessary. Stella closed her eyes and concentrated on calming her nerves. She picked up one of the boxes and dropped it in among the groceries and tried to forget about it.

The cashier started scanned everything through, too slow for Stella's liking, and put everything into paper bags. On her way home, her mind was racing. Each time it entered her mind; she shook her head and pushed it away.

Stella unpacked all the groceries until nothing was left but the pink box. She left it in the middle of the table and just stared at it. Every other minute she would pick it up and toy with it, unsure what to do.

"This is ridiculous. It's not like I haven't done this before." She grumbled to herself.

Stella picked up the box from the table and emptied its contents, taking only the stick with her. She went into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. After doing the test, all that was left was to wait. Stella clipped the cap back onto the stick and left it in the bathroom. She knew that 3 minutes wasn't a long time at all, but she didn't want to sit there and watch the clock. Stella took out her cell phone and set a timer. She went into the kitchen and put the kettle on and started making herself a mug of green tea instead of her usual strong coffee. She thought it best to avoid drinking too much caffeine, just in case. The shrill sound of the time going off made her heart leap into the throat. Almost tripping over the chair, she practically sprinted towards the bathroom. Her hands shook as she picked up the stick. It lay upside down so she didn't have to see it. She closed her eyes and flipped it over. Her eyes flickered open so she could see it.

"Positive." Stella whispered. "I'm pregnant."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'm so glad you enjoyed the last chapter! I wasn't sure whether to bring that story line in or not, but I'm so glad I did. I won't be able to update next week as I'm away, so this one is a little bit longer. I thank you all in advance for any reviews because I can't reply. Thank guys!  
Bx**

**Disclaimer: I do not own CSINY or any of its characters.**

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**Chapter Seven**

Stella sunk down against the edge of the bath-tub. One trembling hand held on to the pregnancy test and the other rested carefully on her stomach, rubbing small circles. This was a completely shocking and unexpected surprise. It explained a lot though; the sudden mood swings and the hangovers that never really were. She glanced down at her watch. Madeline would be home with Isla in just under an hour. Part of her was tempted to leave the apartment, go back to work maybe. She didn't want to have to explain this to Madeline, or anyone, at least not until she had spoken to Mac. She wiped away a tear that had fallen without her realising.

Stella pulled herself up off of the floor and walked into her bedroom. This was something she could deal with later. She pulled open the drawer in her bedside table and chucked the test inside it, making sure that it was well hidden before she slammed the drawer shut.

Walking into the kitchen, she took the empty box off of the table and buried it in the bottom of the trash can. It had been nearly 23 years since she was last in this position and it wasn't any less scary now. As she pushed the trash downwards, her hand hit something cold and sharp. Stella snapped her hand out and checked the skin. A tiny little spot of blood was forming. She looked into the garbage to see what had cut her. A few beer bottle lids were resting in the top. Her stomach lurched. She remembered the wine from last night.

Stella's mind was racing. No-one was exactly sure how much she had drunk the night before but they all seemed to agree that it wasn't that much. She knew exactly how an embryo could be affected by alcohol. How far along was she? And how much had she drunk over that period of time?

"Oh my God" She whispered.

Stella hastily went to the phone and dialled in the number for her doctor. She had to keep a cool head. It definitely wasn't in her nature to let her imagination run wild. She was a detective; she had to keep a steady and rational mind.

"Astonia House Doctor's Surgery, how may I help?" A woman answered.

"Hi, this is Stella Bonasera. I, um, need to make an appointment." Stella replied shakily.

"Well, Ms Bonasera, I'm afraid we have no appointments left for today. The earliest we have is tomorrow at 9:45am, would you like me to schedule it?"

"Yes, thank you." Stella exhaled.

"Okay, that's all done, just check in when you get here. Thank you."

Stella breathed a sigh of relief. Tomorrow she would be able to talk everything through with the doctor. All she would have to do is wait for the appointment.

Sitting down at the kitchen table, in the quiet apartment, gave her a moment to think. Slowly she was starting to get over the initial shock and panic. So she was pregnant. Hell, this wasn't the first time. Stella wasn't sure how to feel. She was excited mostly, but part of her was scared.

The sound of the keys in the door and the lock clicking open made her jump. She plastered a smile on her face, determined not to let anyone know. Not yet anyway. She wasn't ready to deal with the enormity of the situation. Yes, it was a childish and naive way to act, and it was the exact thing that she had told Madeline off for doing, but now wasn't the time.

"Stella?!" Isla gasped as she ran into the kitchen.

Isla jumped up into Stella's lap and started playing with her hair. Madeline followed into the kitchen shortly after. She looked surprised to see Stella home so early in the day.

"Hey. Is everything okay?" Madeline asked, taking an apple out of the fruit bowl and starting to slice it up.

"Yeah, everything's fine." Stella said trying to sound confident, though her voice trembled slightly as she spoke.

Madeline raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes. She knew that her mother was lying but if Stella wasn't going to admit too it, then she certainly wasn't going to say anything.

"So, why are you home from work so early?" Madeline questioned, sitting down opposite Stella.

Stella shrugged. "I wasn't feeling great so I worked here. I'm heading back in a little while."

After colouring in princesses with Isla and insisting to Madeline that she really was fine, it was time for her to go back to the lab. While she walked there, it felt like the whole of New York City was resting on her shoulders, pressing her down and making it hard for her to move. With a clear head on her shoulders, she knew that she had to be extremely cautious when she was at the lab. She couldn't spend all afternoon hanging around potentially harmful chemicals. Thankfully, she was fully aware of what would be safe and what she should avoid at all costs. Stella ran towards the elevator and managed to jump in just before the doors slammed shut.

"Oh hey Hawkes" She greeted, somewhat surprised to see him.

"Hey Stella" He replied, looking equally surprised. "I thought you went home?"

"You know me, can't stay away for too long." She laughed nervously.

"Mac said you weren't feeling well. Let me know if you feel any worse, okay?" Hawkes said as the doors opened.

Stella smiled gratefully at her concerned friend. "I will thank you."

"If only you knew" she thought to herself, her hand grazing across her stomach.

Stella made her way into her office and sat down at the desk. She looked through the glass walls into Mac's empty office. _Mac_. She wanted to track him down and tell him right now. He would be so thrilled, and he'd want to know straight away. Stella didn't want Mac to be upset with her for holding it back all day. She just had to hold on for another few hours. Almost as if on cue, her phone beeped and a text message from Mac popped up on the screen.

"Stell, won't be home till late, start dinner without me. Mac"

Stella exhaled deeply in a frustrated sigh. Great, now she would have to wait even longer. She wanted to burst into tears. Instead, she took a steady breath and calmed herself down. It was just hormones and she was well aware of it.

Biting hard on her lip, she got up and made her way into the lab. She made a conscious effort to avoid any table that had anything smoking or steaming on it. Unfortunately, that was most of the tables. It was like walking through some sort of chemical maze. Stella held her breath and darted through until she finally reached Lindsay's table. She couldn't see anything particularly harmful on Lindsay's table so she figured it was safe.

An old, tattered jacket lay out on the light table. Lindsay was hard at work with a pair of tweezers and various swabs.

"Hey, what've we got?" Stella asked. She brushed Lindsay's arm as she walked past.

"A lot of nothing" Lindsay sighed, frustrated. "So far every biological trace I have found has come back to the victim. I still have some more to go over but..." She trailed off.

"Yeah, it's not looking good. Mac has a potential suspect in interrogation but even he's doubtful that the guy had anything to do with it." Stella leaned in closer to look at the jacket.

"What're you thinking?" Lindsay asked as she pulled another hair from the sleeve.

"Honestly? I'm thinking suicide. There's nothing to suggest anything otherwise. I think if this potential suspect is another dead end, Mac will close the case and the autopsy report will go from 'unexplained' to 'suicide."

"Ooh, does that mean we can go home early?" Lindsay grinned.

"Nice try." Stella winked. "Mac already told me he'd be home late. As far as I know, that means we keep working until he says otherwise. I'm going back to the body. I'll see you later."

After spending the rest of the afternoon talking to Sid and checking over the body, Stella felt exhausted and more than ready to go home. As much as loved talking to Sid, she was glad to get out of that room, the smell of dead bodies was starting to make her stomach turn.

By the time she reached home, Stella was ready to collapse. With dinner thankfully already prepared, she flopped down on the couch and took several gulps from a bottle of water. Ideally, she'd have been drinking from a glass of wine, but now she couldn't just think of herself. She had her baby to think about; their baby.

When she was 18, it didn't feel like she had to give up a lot through her pregnancy. She had no real responsibility, now it felt like a lot was going to have to change. It wouldn't be safe for her to be out in the field all the time and she would be limited as to what she could do in the lab. Her train of thought was interrupted when Isla came tearing into the room, clutching a small pink teddy bear.

"Look what Mac got me!" She exclaimed, her eyes wide with pride and joy.

"Wow, it's so pretty! Did you say thank you?" Stella smiled.

Isla nodded and climbed up onto Stella's lap. She sat by Stella's side and showed her the new teddy. Stella made it dance across the sofa causing Isla to burst into fits of giggles. They were still dancing the bear around when Stella felt a hand touch on the top of her head, quickly followed by a kiss.

"Hey." Stella greeted softly.

Mac came around to the front of the couch and sat down. Isla happily settled herself between the two of them. Mac stretched his arm across the back of the couch and ran his fingers through Stella's hair. Stella felt content to just sit there, cuddled up all night.

"How're you feeling?" Mac asked, letting his arm drop down so that he could hold on to Stella's hand.

"Uh..." She hesitated. "Yeah, better, thanks. How was work?"

"You know same old same old." He chuckled, resting his hand on Isla's head.

As the evening wore on, Stella became more and more nervous about telling Mac. Every time she caught him looking at her, her heart raced. She was convinced he somehow knew, despite the fact that she had given him no reason to suspect.

There were several moments before they went to bed that she could have said something, but each time she chickened out. As she lay in bed, waiting for Mac to get out of the shower, she deliberated on the best way to say it. She took the test from the drawer and clutched it in her hands.

"Stella?" Mac said, noticing the anxious look on her face.

"Mac, I'm pregnant." She said bluntly.

There it was. After waiting all day, she'd told him. The confession hung in the air, swirling between them. Stella focused her eyes, trying to work out what Mac was thinking and what he was feeling. He didn't say anything. He was just standing there, staring at the floor. Mac's mind was racing. Had she really just said what he thought she did? He realised that he hadn't reacted yet. Stella's heart was racing.

"Mac?" She whispered hesitantly.

"Are you sure?" He asked, moving closer to the bed.

"Well...yeah." Stella helped up the test.

Mac made his way round to his side of the bed and sat down. Stella shakily handed him the positive test. He looked at it for a few seconds, though it felt like hours, before carefully placing it on the bedside table. Stella sat waiting in anxious anticipation. She couldn't bring herself to look at Mac so she nearly jumped out of her skin when he grabbed hold of her and held her tightly. Tears started rolling down her cheeks involuntarily. Mac held her face in his hands and wiped the tears away with his thumbs. His elatedness was clear on his face.

"When did you find out?" Mac asked, still holding Stella.

"This afternoon when I came home" She looked up at him through her long eyelashes.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" He kissed the top of her head.

"I was sort of scared." Stella admitted. "Plus, I wanted to wait until we were alone. I wanted to tell you first. I booked a doctor's appointment for tomorrow at 9:45."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Mac whispered. He ran his hand up and down her arm. "We're gunna have a baby."

"I love you, Mac." She said quietly, her voice hitching in her throat.

Mac took his free hand and inter-laced his fingers with Stella's. He moved their joint hands and settled them on Stella's stomach, and started stroking small circles.

"I love you too." Mac tilted her chin up and kissed her softly on her lips. "I love both of you"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: And I'm back! Sorry you had to wait! Okay, I need to explain something really quick. In a week I start a new job and I'm going to be working a lot more hours, thus cutting down severely on my writing time. After this post, I'm going to be posting every other week. However, I have started work on a brand new Stella/Mac story, that I'm really excited about! The first chapter will be posted next weekend. If you love this story, you'll love the new one so keep an eye out for it! Family Ties and the new story will be posted on alternating weeks to give me time to write new chapter. Sorry for any upset and sorry this was so long!  
Bx  
Disclaimer: I do not own CSI:NY**

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**Chapter Eight**

Mac and Stella woke up in exactly the same position as they fell asleep in. Stella's head was settled on Mac's chest with his right arm draped over her shoulder, his left hand rested on her stomach, protectively. After such an emotionally charged day, the couple fell asleep almost instantaneously. It was one of the most restful and relaxing sleeps Stella had had in a long time.

Stella opened her eyes slowly and rubbed her eyes. She was grateful for such a restful sleep, knowing that once the baby starts growing and eventually arrives, good night's sleep would be a beautiful rarity. She nuzzled in closer to Mac. Her gentle movement made Mac wake up too. He shifted slightly and kissed the top of her head.

"Mornin'" He whispered.

"Good morning." She smiled through a yawn.

"How're you feeling this morning?" Mac asked as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Tired hungry excited and scared. I can't believe this is happening." Stella traced small lines on Mac's stomach with her pointer finger.

"I know it's incredible." He agreed, the smile barely leaving his face.

"Wow...I'm gunna have two kids. I never even planned on having one. In fact, I didn't have one, not really anyway. Now I'm going to have...two." She stammered.

It was like it had only just dawned on her. 2 kids; one she gave up and one she would raise. Before she could grasp control of what was happening, tears started trickling down her face. Mac rocked her slightly; he knew that this was something he should probably get used to, even though it pained him to see her so upset.

"You okay?" He asked gently.

"Mhmm" Stella squeaked, nodding her head.

"Are you sure?" He tried again.

"Yeah, I, I'll be fine." She sniffed. "Oh God, how am I supposed to tell Madeline? Do you think she'll be upset with me?"

"Why would she be upset with you?" Mac rubbed her back.

Stella merely shrugged, not really sure of her emotions. A tiny tapping sound at the door made Stella rub furiously at her eyes, getting rid of all tears. Mac looked down at her and she nodded again.

"Come in." Mac called out.

The door creaked open and Isla stood there smiling wearily. She had three teddy bears gathered in her little arms. The bears were swiftly dropped to the floor when Stella held her arm out for Isla to come up for a cuddle. Isla skipped the short distance from the door to the bed and climbed up, leaving the teddies behind. The little girl climbed up over Stella's legs and wriggled her way in between the couple, forcing them to move apart.

"I couldn't gets to sleep." Isla yawned.

"Are mommy and Nick still sleeping?" Stella asked, stroking Isla's flushed cheeks.

"Uh-huh. I got on the bed but they wouldn't waked up." Isla frowned, clearly frustrated at the situation.

Isla turned onto her side and stretched out her hand, dropping it down onto Mac's shoulder.

"Good morning, princess." Mac said, taking hold of Isla's hand and kissing it.

Isla giggled and pulled her hand away. She leant forward and planted a kiss on Mac's cheek, before turning towards Stella and doing the same. Isla lay down flat while Stella stroked her curly hair. They lay in bed fairly quietly for half an hour until Stella realised that it was time to get Isla ready for school. She herself didn't have to rush to get ready as Mac had signed them both off work for the morning.

"Okay Isla; let's go get ready for school." Stella said, pulling back the bed covers.

Stella stood by the bed and stretched, waiting for Isla to get up. Isla, however, had no intention of getting out of bed. She folded her arms across her chest, pouted and shook her head. Stella raised an eyebrow and looked at Mac, who was struggling to stifle a laugh.

"Isla, get up." Stella tried again, sounding slightly sterner.

"I don't wanna go to school today, I wanna stay with you." Isla whined and kicked her legs in the bed.

"You have to go to school, c'mon get your little butt up." Stella said, holding out her hand.

"No." Isla frowned matter-of-factly. "Why do I gotta go?"

"Because it's the law, Isla" Mac interjected. "We can't have you breaking the law, can we?"

"But why not? I wanna stay at home." She grumbled, starting to feel her day off slipping away.

"Mac and I are police officers sweetie. We have to enforce the law." Stella explained.

"Ughh okay." Isla complained.

She held out her arms in Stella's direction, waiting to be picked up. Stella smiled and scooped Isla up. She spun her around and kissed her forehead. Isla giggled as she was carried out into her bedroom. Stella laughed as Isla dug through her wardrobe, tossing various clothes in her direction. Isla changed out of her pyjamas and started pulling on a pain of pale pink tights. When she couldn't get them on properly, she reluctantly accepted assistance from Stella. She also let Stella help button up her dress when she did it up un-even.

"Isla babe, it's time to get...oh. Hi mum." Madeline said, clearly shocked.

"Hey. She, uh, got up early and I'm not working this morning. I'll take her in." Stella smiled, looking up from her spot on the floor.

"Are you sure? Thanks mum! That saves me a 20 minute journey. Are you okay if I go get ready for work?" Madeline asked as she leant against the door frame.

"Yeah, go ahead. We got this, right Isla?" Stella turned and nodded at the 4 year old.

"Got it" Isla stuck her hands on her hips and nodded confidently, which brought on a series of giggle from both of the adults.

"Okay. Good job!" Madeline nodded. She held out her hand in Isla's direction. Isla shook her hand, taking it all very seriously.

Madeline walked over to Isla and kissed her daughter good morning. She then leant down and kissed Stella too before walking out of the room. Stella stayed in Isla's room, playing with the baby doll. She hadn't intended to bring up the whole baby thing, not yet anyway, but Isla seemed so content and happy looking after her own 'baby' that it seemed like a good time to approach the subject.

"Hey Isla, do you like looking after your baby?" Stella inquired as Isla stuck a bottle in the baby doll's mouth.

Isla nodded enthusiastically. "I love my baby."

"Would you like it if we had a real baby live here with us?" She asked, watching Isla closely.

Isla's eyes widened and a grin spread across her face. As always, Isla's excited smile was contagious and Stella grinned back at the little girl.

"That would be the bestest thing ever. Can we go have breakfast now?" Isla asked, quickly forgetting the subject.

"Sure honey, let's go." Stella replied, lifting herself up off of the floor.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Are you ready for this?" Mac asked, giving Stella's hand a tight squeeze.

Stella looked around the doctor's waiting room nervously. The red plastic chairs were hideous and uncomfortable. A small table in the centre of the room had a few magazines lying on top of it, all of which were at least 3 years old.

"No not really. I definitely thought it'd be easier the second time. I'm glad you're here though." She ran her fingers up and down Mac's forearm.

"You know I would never miss this. You went through this alone once, you don't have to do it again. I'm here for you, all the way." Mac said sincerely. He leant across the metal arms of the chairs and gently turned Stella's head before kissing her. "So, do you know what's going to happen at this appointment?"

"Yeah, I remember it. If my calculations are correct I'm not far along enough for them to really do anything yet. They won't do the dating scan until at least 10 weeks. It's just a precautionary right now." She shrugged.

As Stella predicted, the appointment was rather an anti-climax. Together, the 3 of them worked out that Stella was around 7 weeks pregnant. The doctor suggested a list of pre-natal vitamins that she should take and they discussed both Stella and Mac's genetic history so they could think about screening tests. Stella was booked in for the first scan in 4 weeks time.

The couple walked down the street from the doctor's office and back to the crime lab. Mac wrapped his arm lovingly around Stella's waist. He had always felt a duty to protect her, regardless of the fact that he knew she could protect herself, but now that she was carrying his child it became more than a sense of duty. It was a want, a need; it was a feeling that went beyond what he felt like he should do. Protecting Stella, and now protecting the baby, was what he wanted to do. No matter what it took, he would protect them.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo xoxo

While she was working that afternoon, Stella tried desperately hard to keep her mind focused on the job in front of her but it was proving to be increasingly difficult. All she could think about was the baby, and more importantly, telling everyone about the baby. She knew Isla would be excited and Nick would probably be happy for the two of them, but Madeline? She had no idea how Madeline was going to react.

"Stell c'mon lets head out. I just talked to Madeline; I said we'd pick up dinner on the way home." Mac smiled.

He held out Stella's coat for her as she slipped her arms into the sleeves. He settled his hands on her hips and kissed her cheek. They walked out of the office hand in hand and made their way home.

"Are you ready for this?" Mac asked as they stood outside the apartment door.

"I'll never be ready for this." Stella shook her head and opened up the door.

"It'll be fine." Mac assured her.

"Is it okay if we tell them after dinner?" Stella asked quietly as she kicked off her heels and tugged at the sleeves of her coat.

Mac didn't say anything; he just nodded and directed his eyes down the hall, where he could see Isla poking her head out of the door. She scrunched up her little nose and smiled before skipping out, dressed in a black skull t-shirt and bright pink tutu.

"Did you bring me dinner?" Isla grinned expectantly, grinning up at the adults.

"We sure did, you wanna help me dish it up?" Mac asked, holding out his hand.

Isla took hold of Mac's hand and dragged him to the kitchen. Stella followed, and Madeline and Nick walked in shortly after. All through dinner, Stella felt guilty knowing that after they'd finished eating, she was going to change everything. She struggled through her meal, taking only a few bites before pushing the food around the plate again. After dinner, Madeline and Nick offered to wash up the dishes. Stella got changed into comfier clothes and lay down on the couch with Isla sitting on her lap and her feet resting on Mac's knees. When they finally came into the room and sat down, Stella almost jumped out of her seat. If it wasn't for Mac keeping a tight grip on her hand, she would've bolted from the room. Thankfully, Mac sensed her concern and took charge of the conversation.

"We need to talk to you both. There isn't really an easy way to tell you this, we just need you to both keep an open mind and remember that we love you, all of you." He started to explain. "Nothing's going to change, right Stell?"

Stella looked up and shook her head, smiling. He realised that he had hit almost every cliché and from the looks on their faces, he needed to hurry this up. In truth, he was hoping Stella was going to jump in and say something. The look on her face told him that this was highly unlikely.

"Mac, I love you but is there an end to this story?" Madeline asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh yeah, I just, I don't really know how to say it..." He trailed off, turning to Stella for help.

"Well should we be worried? Is it bad news or good news? On a scale of 'we've both been fired' to 'we're having a baby'?" Madeline said, irritated.

The guilty look on both Stella and Mac's faces was enough to answer her question. She saw their hands tightening together and their eyes drift to Stella's stomach. Her mother was pregnant. Madeline felt like the air had been punched right out of her. Nick's jaw was almost to the floor. This couldn't be happening.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: An update! Now that I have the first chapter of my new Stella/Mac story up, I will be alternating their posting. If you haven't read Finding Somebody To Love, I'd love it if you could check it out!  
Disclaimer: I do not own CSI:NY or any of its characters.**

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**Chapter Nine**

"You're pregnant?" Madeline said, almost outraged. "Are you serious?"

Stella bit her lip and nodded nervously. She wanted to cry. She could feel the tears burning in the back of her eyes but she held them back. Mac kept Stella's hand in his. Nick could feel Madeline getting angry. His arm was around her shoulder and her whole body felt tense. He had to do something.

"That's awesome! Hey congratulations guys" Nick stood up out of the chair.

He walked the few steps to the other couch and shook Mac's hand. He then leant down, hugged Stella and kissed her on both cheeks. Nick was honestly really happy for the two of them. Madeline, however, sat back with a blank look on her face.

"Thank you" Stella whispered tearfully, grateful for his support.

"Maddie?" Nick prompted, hoping to get her to say something.

"I...yeah, congratulations, whatever" Madeline muttered before practically running from the room.

Mac and Nick looked over at Stella. She stared down at her lap where her hands where resting. She was fully aware that both pairs of eyes were focused on her but she didn't want to look at them. She didn't want to see the pity in their eyes. What she really wanted to do was following Madeline, but that wasn't going to help.

"Stell, she'll come around. You want me to go and talk to her?" Nick offered.

"No, thank you, but no. I'll talk to her later. She just needs to calm down. Not that I even know what I'm going to say." Stella said quietly.

She got up off the couch and walked into the kitchen. Though they were both tempted to follow her, Mac and Nick stayed behind. They had lived with Stella and Madeline long enough to know that it's better to let them cool off before getting involved.

"Mac why is mommy and Stella sad?" Isla frowned, climbing up onto Mac's lap.

"Sweetheart, did you understand anything that Stella or mommy just said?" Mac asked.

"No, I was playing with my dollies Mac." Isla said as if she was stating the obvious.

"Right of course. You know how you look after your babies?" Isla nodded, understanding what Mac said. "Well Stella and I are going to have our own baby."

"A real baby will be here?" Isla asked, her eyes lighting up at the thought. "Will it be soon?"

"No, it won't be for a little while yet. The baby needs to grow first." Mac laughed seeing Isla's disappointed face.

"Where is the baby now?" Isla asked as she tried to work out what was happening.

"It's in Stella's belly." Mac tried to explain. He prodded Isla's stomach causing her to giggle. "It's going to stay in there until it's ready to be born."

"And then the baby will live with us?"

"Yep, the baby will live here." Mac smiled, already looking forward to it. "So you have to be real nice to Stella, okay? She needs lots of kisses and cuddles."

"I will go cuddle her now!" Isla nodded.

She jumped down off of Mac's lap and ran into the kitchen, where Stella was sitting at the table sipping on a glass of water. She was staring blankly at the wall ahead; she didn't even hear anyone enter the room when she felt Isla's little hand touch on her stomach.

"Is this where the baby lives, Stella?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah sweetie, that's where the baby lives." Stella smiled.

She pushed her chair out a little bit so that there so room for Isla to climb up. Isla sat with her legs dangling each side of Stella's. She put her hands out again and touched Stella's stomach. Stella looked down in fascination as Isla stroked her stomach.

"Are you sure that a baby is there?" Isla looked unsure.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Stella nodded, trying not to laugh at the look on Isla's face.

"Stella, I can't feel one." The little girl insisted, starting to look frustrated.

"That's because it's really tiny right now." Stella held out her hand and used her fingers to show Isla how small the baby would be.

"Oh. Will it be a big baby soon?" She asked.

"It won't be too long. Soon we'll get a special picture that shows the baby before it's born. And then my belly will start getting really big and you can feel the baby then." She tried to put it into terms Isla would understand.

"When the baby is here can I hold it?" Isla asked excitedly.

"Of course you can sweetie. You can help me look after it like you look after your babies. Does that sound good?"

"Really?" Isla's eyes widened as Stella nodded.

"Isla, do you think you could ask Nick or Mac to get you ready for bed now, while I go and talk to mommy?" Stella stood up with Isla in her arms.

"Yah" Isla slid off of Stella's lap. "Good night baby." She tapped Stella's stomach and ran off.

Stella smiled and stood up. She finished the last of her water before putting the glass in the dishwasher. Isla may not have really understood what was going on, but at least she was excited about. Stella knocked gently on Madeline's door, hoping she wouldn't be face with much defence.

"Can I come in?" She asked, poking her head round the door.

Madeline was sitting up in bed, flicking through a suede photo album that had 'Isla's First Year' stitched on the front. When she saw Stella at the door, she closed the album and dropped it down onto the bed covers. Madeline nodded and Stella pushed the door open. She sat down on the bed and stroked the cover of the album.

"Madeline, I don't know what to say." Stella admitted.

"Honestly, I don't know how to feel. Am I supposed to be excited that I'm getting a brother or sister? 'Cause I'm not." She hesitated, seeing Stella's pained look. "I'm happy for you, mum, I really am. But I'm jealous. I'm so jealous." Madeline admitted, nearly in tears.

"Can I ask why?" Stella practically whispered as she tried to blink back her own tears.

"Because..." Madeline paused and took a deep breath. "Because that baby will have you there for it, its whole life. It's not fair because I've barely even had you for a fifth of mine."

Neither of them could hold back now. Stella was hit by a wave of guilt. She wrapped her arms around Madeline. Her daughter was right of course. The situation was anything but fair. It was different though, as cliché as it sounded, the circumstances were completely different.

When she was pregnant with Madeline, Stella was 18, out of work and alone. All of that and she was living in England, thousands of miles away from home. Now she was in a steady relationship and had a stable job. She finally had support. She could raise a baby now.

"I'm sorry." They both said in tearful unison.

"I'm sorry for not being there for you Madeline. I am so sorry that I couldn't raise you the way I wanted too. This was never planned, I promise you." Stella held on to Madeline's hand.

"I know, but you don't need to be sorry mum. I need to apologise. I don't know, I guess I was just shocked. I thought I'd have my second kid before you had yours." Madeline laughed.

"I thought you'd be the only one having kids." Stella smiled. "I really am sorry."

Stella leant forward on the bed and hugged Madeline again. It felt like a weight had been lifted now that she knew her daughter approved, even if it was slightly reluctantly.

"It'll be kinda cool having a baby around again." Madeline admitted.

"It's still really early, you know, plus I'm over 40 so its gunna be high-risk." Stella said uneasily.

Madeline sensed her mother's fear and concern. She shifted forward on the bed and rested her hand on top of Stella's. It was a simple, sentimental gesture from one mother to another. It was a show of support from a daughter to her mother.

"Its gunna be okay, mum." Madeline said, trying to reassure Stella.

"I hope so." Stella replied.

Madeline kissed her mother's cheek and got up off of the bed. She knelt down on the floor next to the bed and dragged out a large box. With a heave, she pulled out a large plastic box and lifted it onto the bed.

"What's all this?" Stella asked, confused. She stroked the lid of the box.

"It's some of Isla's old baby things. I couldn't bring myself to throw them away, but I didn't really know what to do with them." Madeline explained, unclipping the box lid.

She picked up a white baby-grow and held it up to her face. It was soft, with the scent of baby powder and fabric softener still embedded in the cotton. Stella watched as Madeline stroked through all the items in the box. Her heart broke knowing that she didn't have anything like this from Madeline, all she had was the blanket from the hospital.

"You should take some of this stuff." Madeline smiled, handing Stella a large white baby blanket.

"Are you sure?" She raised an eyebrow and held the blanket close to her.

"Positive." Madeline nodded. "Besides, that thing was expensive, and my new brother or sister only deserves the best."

"Thank you, Madeline." Stella whispered tearfully.

Madeline may not be thrilled at having a new sibling, but she was going to love and spoilt that child. Her mother was in a loving relationship and that was all she wanted.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I'll be honest, I'm not thrilled with this chapter. I started writing it before I went on holiday and when I came back I had completely lost momentum with it. I've struggled to make it a great as it should be. Never the less, I hope you still enjoy it! Also, from this point on, it will jump in time quickly because I know you all just want the baby!  
Bx**

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

_20 Weeks_

This pregnancy felt like it was flying past - she was already half way through. Stella had tried to enjoy every moment of it, but honestly, she was getting really tired of all affects that went along with pregnancy. She was fed up of the constant nausea and heart-burn. She felt swollen and her skin constantly felt dry. But with all the bad, came a lot of good. Every time she felt her baby move inside her, a huge grin spread across her face and her hand instantly stroked down her stomach. Now it had come time for her to have her 20 week scan. She had been waiting for this day since the beginning.

Stella shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The doctor's waiting room was far too hot for her liking. Her skin felt sticky and her hair, despite being in a ponytail, felt like it was clinging to the back of her neck. She fidgeted again, trying to pull down the front of her shirt to cover her ever-growing stomach.

"Mum, sit still. You're making me nervous." Madeline nudged Stella with her elbow.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. It's just...I don't know." Stella shrugged.

"You wish Mac was here. I get it." Madeline smiled, pityingly. "He said he was gunna be here, I'm sure he just got stuck in traffic."

"I hope so. He'd hate to miss this." She frowned.

"You want me to call him again?" Madeline tried, hoping to get her mother to calm down.

"Do you mind?" Stella raised an eyebrow.

"Course not." Madeline laughed.

She got up out of her chair and walked out of the room, her phone in her hand. Stella watched as Madeline typed on her phone and then put the set too her ear. Madeline paced in small circles as the phone rang.

"Taylor." Mac answered.

"Hey Mac, its Madeline." She replied.

"Oh hey, how's it going? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Are you on your way to the doctor's?" Madeline said.

"I'll be there in 10 minutes. Is she going crazy?" Mac asked, though he already knew she was.

"She's tearing her hair out. She thinks you're not going to make it." She sighed.

"Just try and hold it off for as long as you can, I'll be there soon." Mac said.

"Okay, see you later." Madeline hung up the phone.

Madeline put the phone into her back and made her way back over to Stella. She sat down on the chair and snickered when she saw the desperate anticipation on Stella's face.

"He'll be here in like 10 minutes. Can you calm down now?" Madeline raised an eyebrow.

Stella nodded and sighed. She leant her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. Madeline shook her head. It was strange for her to see her usually composed mother falling apart at the seams. The rational part of her brain had been replaced with baby-brain.

"This is weird, huh?" Madeline asked, trying to make conversation. Stella turned her head, her brow furrowed.

"You being the one in the trouble, not me." She laughed and gestured towards Stella's stomach.

"You know, the day we found out that you were pregnant was one of the scariest days of my life. I've been beaten, shot at and nearly killed more times than I can count, but when you collapsed right in front of me..." Stella shivered.

"Yeah, that was pretty scary. I really thought you were gunna be mad at me, like the whole reason I came to find you was because I was pregnant and expected your help." Madeline put her hand on top of Stella's.

"I know." Stella smiled.

After that, they fell into a comfortable silence. Madeline played around on her phone and Stella had an internal nervous breakdown. Every few seconds her head would spin round to face the door. Her heart seemed to jump at the sound of every footstep. It was getting close.

"Ms Bonasera" A nurse called out, poking her head round one of the doors.

Stella's shoulder's drooped in disappointment. Mac hadn't made it. She was going to have to go in without him. Reluctantly, she stood up out of the chair and started walking to the room, delaying it for as long as she could.

"I'll come in with you, until he gets here." Madeline said, giving Stella's hand a reassuring squeeze. Stella smiled sadly and they walked into the room.

For the first few minutes, the doctor asked Stella some basic questions, finding out how everything was going and how she was feeling. Then he asked her to lay up on the table so they could start the scan. As the cold gel hit her stomach, the door burst open and a very visibly stressed-out Mac walked in.

"I'm so sorry I'm late." He said, slightly breathless. He took hold of Stella's hand and kissed it as he sat down on a stool next to her.

"I'll wait for you guys outside." Madeline smiled. She knew that they wouldn't mind if she stayed with them, but she wanted them to have this moment together; just the two of them.

The time it took for the sonographer to get the image up on the screen, felt like an eternity. Mac held onto her hand the whole time. She felt so jittery while they waited. She was aware that the doctor was talking, but she wasn't really listening; she'd heard it all before. It wasn't until the doctor mentioned the sex of the baby that she actually perked up.

"So, are you interested in finding out the sex of the baby?" The doctor asked.

"Yes!" Stella said excitedly, less than a second after the doctor has asked the question.

There had been a lot of debating and arguing over whether they would find out. Stella was desperate to know. She was far too impatient. Madeline wanted to know so she could start buying her new sibling presents. Nick was on the fence. Isla called the baby a boy and wouldn't accept anything else. Mac thought they should wait. Ultimately Stella won. All she had to do was to flutter her eyelashes and play the cute card. Mac was like putty in her hands.

"Okay. Well, if everything continues to go as it should, you will be having a healthy baby boy. Congratulations." The doctor grinned and gestured to the screen.

Stella clapped her hands to her face. She was going to have a little boy. Mac couldn't believe it. He was going to have son. He couldn't believe how fortunate he was. He took hold of Stella's hand and kissed her. The doctor left the room giving Stella time to clean up, and the couple a moment to themselves. Stella wiped the goo off of her stomach and pulled down her shirt. Mac helped her up off of the bed and pulled her into his arms. He held her face in his hands and kissed her.

"We're having a boy." Stella whispered tearfully. The smile never left her face.

"I love you." Mac said, staring lovingly into her eyes.

They collected the scan photos and their papers from the doctors and said goodbye. Madeline was waiting for them in the waiting room. Stella excitedly showed Madeline the pictures. Mac and Stella were on cloud 9 for the rest of the day. That night as Stella went to bed, she thought about how lucky she was. She already had a beautiful, intelligent, grown-up daughter and now she was going to have a son, with the man she loved. She couldn't ask for more.


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: Sorry for the huge delay in posting! Work has been busy and I've struggled to write this. Only a few more chapter to go until the end so just stick with it! I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up as it's been written and re-written about 7 times. So we'll see, but I promise I won't leave it too long.  
Bx**_

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_**Chapter Eleven**_

_6 Months_

Stella pulled off her shirt and threw it down on the floor in frustration. Another item of clothing that no longer fit her. She was sick of wearing maternity clothes. All she wanted to do was get back into her old wardrobe. Finding clothes to wear to work was become more and more of a challenge. It had gotten to the point that she didn't even want to get up anymore. Mac insisted that she still looked beautiful, but she certainly didn't feel it. It felt like she was too big to do anything. She wasn't allowed out in the field and she couldn't do much in the lab. Her little boy was kicking a lot, especially early in the morning. She loved feeling him moving around but it was getting exhausting.

"You ready to go?" Mac asked, sticking his head round the bedroom door.

"I'm not going." Stella grumbled. She sat down on the end of the bed and started pulling off her shoes.

"What do you mean you're not going?" Mac raised an eyebrow.

"I have nothing to wear. There's no point me going in anyway, it's not like I do anything useful." She flung her boots across the room and they fell to the floor with a dull thud.

"Stella..." Mac began to say.

"No, Mac. It feels like all I do is sit at my desk and go over paperwork. Please, Mac I'm begging you, let me go out to a scene today. If I have to sit behind a desk all day, I'm not going." Stella folded her arms across her chest defensively.

"We've talked about this Stella. It's not safe for you. What if something were to happen to you? What if something happened to our son? I'm not letting you out in the field Stella, that's final." Mac narrowed his eyes, trying to get Stella to see his point.

"You're really going to pull rank?" Stella said outraged.

"This isn't about pulling rank, Stella, you know that. But if that's what it takes, to make you see sense then so be it." He ordered.

"Fine" She snapped.

Stella picked her boots up off of the floor and stormed out of the room. As much as Mac wanted to chase after her, apologise and give her exactly what she wanted but he knew she was going to stay mad at him for a while. Eventually she'd realise he was right. Mac readjusted his tie and left the room. Stella was waiting by the door, her boots now on and her arms still angrily folded.

"You, uh, ready to go?" Mac asked tentatively.

Stella didn't say anything. She pursed her lips, nodded and stormed out of the apartment. Mac shook his head and followed her. He laughed quietly to himself as he watched her try to storm off. The dramatic exit wasn't as elegant as she hoped it would be. Her swollen stomach and the general achiness that came along with it meant that she couldn't move at a great pace. It didn't take Mac long to catch up with her and Stella didn't protest when he gave her a hand getting down the stairs. They drove to work in silence. Stella stared out the window, so she could avoid talking to Mac.

Stella was pissed off. Not necessarily with him, though he wasn't helping, but just with the situation. She wanted to work, she wanted to be out there solving crimes and helping victims. She definitely didn't want to be stuck behind a desk. She became a cop to help people, not to type up reports. If she wanted to do that, she would've become a secretary. Almost like a sign of comfort, the baby started kicking, just reminding Stella that he was there. As she felt their son moving around inside her, Stella feel a stab of guilt. Mac was only trying to protect the two of them. She was being so incredibly selfish.

"I'm sorry, Mac." She whispered, still choosing to look at him.

"It's okay." He replied, stretching his arm across the car and resting his hand on Stella's knee.

"It's not okay. I'm being an ass. You shouldn't let me get away with it." Stella shook her head.

"Its gunna be a tough week. I can let a few outbursts slide." Mac winked.

"That's no excuse." She said.

"Being pregnant is a pretty good excuse though."

Mac parked the car and helped Stella out. He put his arm around her waist as the slowly made their way into the building. Even after 6 months of being pregnant, people at the crime lab still hadn't got used to seeing Stella Bonasera pregnant. She was always so graceful and confident. She definitely didn't seem it right now. Confident, sure, but graceful, not so much.

They were only at the lab for 2 hours before Stella was already desperate to leave. No-one was in the lab, they were all out in the field. She sat at her desk twiddling her thumbs and moving pieces of paper from one side of her desk to the other. She went through pages and pages of baby websites, just to cure her boredom. She looked at different nursery designs, furniture they could buy and compiled a list of what she still needed to buy.

Stella and Mac had delayed getting the nursery together, so that Madeline and Nick could find their own apartment and the baby could have their room. The furniture that they had bought was stored in every available space, waiting to be put together. Now that time had come, and the couple would be moving out at the weekend. Stella didn't want them to move out. It felt like she'd only just got her daughter, and now she was moving again. She was going to miss having Isla around all the time too. Even though they'd have the baby to look after, it would be strange not having her granddaughter there too.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"No, that's the wrong one." Isla said sulkily.

She sat on the edge of bed frowning, while Nick dug through her toy box looking for a teddy. He pulled out toy after toy but still hadn't found the right one. He was supposed to be helping Madeline pack.

"Babe, did you already pack up Isla's pink teddy thing?" Nick called out, pulling out various other pink teddies trying to find the right one.

"Probably, it'll be in one of the boxes. Don't worry about it, she doesn't need it." Madeline replied.

"Yes I do mommy! I need to show it to Mac." Isla insisted.

She was already fed up of packing. Moving wasn't her idea and she didn't understand why she had to put all her toys into boxes. Madeline was even more fed up with packing. It felt like there was so much that she still had to do, and hardly any time to do it in. The apartment they had found was only a block away from Mac and Stella's. Isla's main concern was that she wasn't going to be spoiled like she was before. She was, however, incredibly excited about the new baby.

"Mommy, I want to give this one to the baby." Isla said, throwing a teddy bear in Madeline's direction.

"You can give it to Stella tonight, okay?" She taped up another cardboard box and stacked it on top of the others.

"Mommy, is Stella gunna bring the baby to the new house? I don't want the baby to be in my room." Isla questioned, pushing one of the boxes out of her way.

"No honey, Mac and Stella aren't coming with us, they're going to live here with the baby." Madeline explained. She sat down cross-legged on the floor and pulled Isla onto her lap.

"Does that mean I don't get to look after the baby now?" She looked heartbroken.

"You can still help Stella look after the baby." Madeline reassured. "You just have to wait until we go and see the baby, or the baby comes here."

The room was starting to look incredibly empty. Most of hers and Nick's clothes had been pack, along with all the other bits and pieces that they found around the room. The plan was to leave Isla's room till last so she could still have all her toys out. They were still packing when Stella and Mac came home from work. Stella made a bee-line straight for the couch and flopped down onto the soft cushions. It was incredible how a day of nothing had made her feel absolutely exhausted.

"Hey mum." Madeline smiled, sitting down at Stella's feet.

"Hey" Stella replied wearily. "How's the packing going?"

"Can you get someone to come do it for me? Like maybe someone who wants to get out of jail? I can't be bothered to finish it, it's so boring." Madeline complained.

"You want a criminal to come and help you move apartments?" Stella raised an eyebrow.

Madeline shrugged, and closed her eyes. She took a moment to enjoy the quiet. She was going to miss these little moments with her mother. It felt like they were catching up on time that they had missed. In a few months time, they would both have young children. It was all going to be so different.

"So, how's my brother doing?" Madeline asked, gently patting Stella's stomach.

"A lot better than you were at this stage. At least he lets me sleep for a few hours a night." Stella chuckled quietly.

"Isla thinks it's going to be her brother. She told everyone at school she was going to be a big sister and 5 different mothers came up and started congratulating me." Madeline recalled.

"She'll be okay. It'll be a little weird but she'll get used to it." Stella smiled and laughed.

"My brother is younger than my daughter. Welcome to the modern world." Madeline grinned.

It was hard for Isla to think of the baby as anything but her brother. They had all tried several times to explain to Isla that the baby wasn't her brother but her uncle. It was complicated enough for an adult to understand, it was even harder for a 4 year old. She loved the idea of being a big sister and she couldn't let it go.

That night before bed, Isla kissed Stella goodnight and then kissed Stella's stomach.

"Goodnight baby. I love you." She whispered.


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: Bit of a delay, I know! I'm sorry! Thank you all for reviewing/**_**_favoriting, it means a lot :) I've been crazy busy at work which has left me with little time to write, that's why this chapter took so long. I recently found out that I'm going to be looking after a little girl called Isla, which I thought was pretty cool! Though she looks nothing like the Isla I imagined!  
Thanks for everything!_**

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_**Chapter Twelve **_

_7 Months_

7 months in and Stella was really starting to struggle. Everything felt like such an effort. The baby was growing just as he should be and so far she had been incredibly lucky. Much to Mac's displeasure, she was still working around the office and begging everyone to take her out into the field.

"Go home, now." Mac ordered, tossing her coat across her desk.

Stella opened her mouth to argue but stopped herself. It had been a difficult day and she really did want to go home, she was just too proud to say anything. She spent all afternoon in bed, napping and reading. She didn't get out of bed until nearly 7pm. To her surprise, Madeline was lying down on the couch eating from a bowl of popcorn.

"Make yourself at home." Stella laughed sitting down on the coach.

"I will. Popcorn?" Madeline handed over the bowl.

"Thanks." Stella stuck her hand in the bowl and pulled some out.

"Mac called me earlier and said he sent you home. Me and Isla came round but you were asleep. And then Mac came home so we had dinner without you." She explained.

"Oh, okay." Stella yawned. "Will he be home soon?"

"He's your boyfriend, not mine." Madeline shrugged and nudged Stella's outstretched leg. Stella merely opened up one eye and almost frowned. "He just took Isla to the park, he'll be home soon."

"And when are you going home?" Stella raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not." Madeline laughed when she saw Stella's confused expression. "Nick spent all day painting our bedroom, so it stinks and I don't want to be in there. Plus, he's working late tonight."

"Do you want me to make up the beds?" Stella asked.

"No it's fine, thanks. I'll just do it later." Madeline replied. "Besides, you'll have to move like 10 pieces of flat-pack furniture and right now you can barely lift yourself off of the couch."

"I forgot how much of strain it is." Stella rubbed her lower back. "I don't remember you being this much trouble. He kicks more than you did."

"He's a boy. That's what they do." Madeline smiled. "You've been working too hard."

"Can you help me up?" Stella pouted, holding her arms up to Madeline.

"No, you're fat not incapable." Madeline winked.

"Hey, remember that time when I gave you life?" Stella replied.

Madeline rolled her eyes and took hold of her mother's hands. She pulled her up so that Stella's was back in a sitting position. Madeline kissed the top of Stella's head and got out of the way so Stella could push herself up.

"2 months to go..." Stella sighed and waddled out of the room.

Stella made her way into the bathroom and started running herself a hot bath. She lit the candles and added her favourite bubble bath. This may be the only thing that would make her feel better. She pulled off her clothes and left them in a pile on the floor. With the hot water washing over her body, she finally felt able to relax. The strain of the pregnancy was slowly leaving her. She stayed in the water for an hour, occasionally topping it up with extra hot water.

Reluctantly, she got out of the tub and dried herself off. She wrapped her dressing gown around her and went into her room to get into a pair of leggings and loose shirt – the only things she felt comfortable in.

"Mum, come in here." Madeline called out from the front room.

Stella slowly made her way into the living room, ready to drop herself on the sofa. Her entire body was hurting. Madeline was standing in the middle of the room, her jacket on and a scarf around her neck, she had Stella's jacket slung over her arm.

"We're going out for ice cream." Madeline ordered. She shook her head when Stella tried to protest.

"Fine." Stella smiled slightly, appreciating her daughter's kind gesture.

Madeline grinned and helped Stella slip her coat on over her shoulders. They headed out the door together and began to make their way down the stairs and out onto the streets. A twinge in her stomach made her pause for a brief second. She shook her head and carried on walking.

They were only a block away when Stella felt her knees begin to buckle beneath her. Madeline rushed to her side and slipped her arm around her waist, to keep her upright. Stella grabbed at her stomach in agony.

"Oh my God" Was all Madeline could mutter fearfully.

Tears rolled down Stella's face as she leant up against a wall, trying to stop herself from falling to the ground in pain. She winced and pulled at her stomach again, though the sharp pain had spread throughout her whole body.

"Call...call a..." Stella said breathlessly

"Ambulance, yeah, I got it." Madeline shakily took out her cell phone and dialled in 911.

The ambulance didn't take long, or maybe it did, Madeline wasn't sure. Stella's body sitting on the ground was starting to attract attention. One woman brought her over water thought it didn't do much.

"It hurts." Stella cried in pain, her hand still tightly gripped on Madeline's.

Madeline didn't reply, she was too afraid that she'd burst into tears if she did. Stella was the strong one; things like this just didn't happen to her. She was the grown up. But now Madeline had to be the strong one. She had to be responsible even though everything inside her willed her to curl up on the floor next to her mother and cry.

It wasn't until they were in the hospital, surrounded by people who knew what they were doing, that Madeline felt she was finally able to breathe again. Lying in a hospital bed, Stella should've been looking worried, tired even, but she didn't. She had insisted the pain was gone, though her face would still occasionally crease up in agony. She insisted that she should be allowed to go home. Each time she stood up, Madeline would stare her back down. She had to have an emergency scan and blood tests. The bed was uncomfortable and the hospital gown was unflattering. In all honesty, she was more scared than she was letting on.

"We need to go, Mac and Isla will be wondering where we've gone." Stella grumbled.

"We're not going anywhere. They'll think we've gone out. If it's really serious, I'll call Mac. Please mum, just lie down and wait for the doctor to come back." Madeline said.

Stella rubbed her stomach protectively. She was scared, terrified even, but she really didn't want to be in hospital. Sharp stabs of pain continued to shoot through her body but she tried hard to ignore them. She wanted to be at home. When the doctor walked in, her head shot up as she waited impatiently to hear what he had to say.

"Is everything okay with the baby?" She

"You've been over doing it Ms Bonasera." He said simply, looking down at her charts.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The doctor was quiet for a moment as his eyes scanned across the papers in front of him. Every so often he would frown or bite his bottom lip.

"What's going to happen now?" Madeline asked.

"It appears everything is fine. The baby's heartbeat is still strong, he is in no danger but I am ordering bed rest up until the baby is born. You are not to do anything that could bring on early labour." The doctor said, focusing his attention on Stella.

"That means no work. I'll tell Mac and he'll sign you off." Madeline said, sternly.

"If that's wait it takes, then fine." Stella said calmly.

"We will keep you in overnight, just to keep an eye on things and you will be free to go in the morning." The doctor smiled and said his goodbye's before leaving the room.

Madeline looked up at her mother and raised an eyebrow before quickly looking back down at the magazine on her lap. Stella looked at her and frowned.

"Go on, say it." Stella said, breaking the silence.

"I told you so." Madeline shook her head.

"As long as he's okay, that's all that matters. Can you call Mac now?" Stella said, almost tearfully.

"Sure." Madeline went closer to the edge of the bed and kissed Stella's temple.

Left alone in the hospital room, the tears started to slowly fall down her cheeks. She had been so reckless and so stupid. She had put her own son at risk because she didn't want to sit still. She cradled her stomach lovingly and let the tears fall.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered tearfully.

After that, she vowed to take it easy. Bed rest would be long and tedious, but she could manage it. Stella felt herself drift into an easy sleep. All the pain and worry of the evening started to leave her once again. She felt as if she could sleep for days.

When Mac walked into the hospital half an hour later, he was angry. He knew he shouldn't have been, and he would never have let Stella see that, but he couldn't help it. He had warned her that she was doing too much. He was nervous; his head was spinning as he practically ran to the hospital with Isla on his shoulders. Madeline, who was sitting outside Stella's hospital room waiting for them to arrive, took Isla so that Mac could go in and see Stella.

All of his anger washed away when he saw her. She looked calm and serene. Mac dragged the chair from the corner of the room so that it was touching the edge of her bed. His hand stroked up and down her forearm and back down to her fingers.

She shifted slightly in her sleep, unknowingly turning her body to face Mac. Her nose wrinkled and he chuckled softly. He loved her. He loved her with every part of him. Mac looked back down at her hand and laced his fingers with hers. The empty space on her finger told him exactly what he needed to do.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I'm so sorry for the delay in getting this up! I hope you all enjoy it and are happy with the way the chapter ends!  
Bx**

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_**Chapter Thirteen**_

_8 Months_

"Have you got it?" Stella asked anxiously, standing on the sidewalk.

"Stella..." Mac warned.

"Yeah, bed rest I got it." She grumbled. She turned on her heel and went back into the building.

It had been nearly a month since she had been signed off of work, and ordered onto bed rest, but it hadn't gotten any easier. Every day was the same. She missed the rush and the thrill of fighting crime and solving murders. With so much sitting around, she was growing impatient. There was still a month left until the baby was due, she was ready for him now.

Stella slowly made her way up the stairs and back into the apartment. They were finally getting around to decorating the nursery. If she could, she'd be putting the whole thing together herself. All she was able to do was choose the colour scheme and the furniture. Mac wouldn't let her anywhere near moving anything. The only thing she contributed to the actual decorating was laying down the plastic covering to protect the new carpet.

Mac followed shortly after, with tins of paint clutched in his hands. He dropped them onto the floor in the hallway and stretched out his arms. Stella began to make a move for the tins of paint. Before Mac had a chance to stop her, she had grabbed the tin and darted towards the nursery. She burst into giggles as she felt Mac's hands grab her waist and hold her back.

"What part of bed rest don't you understand?" He said, trying to sound as stern as possible.

"The 'rest' part." She replied sarcastically.

Mac shook his head, knowing that this was a battle he was never going to win. To keep her out of the nursery and away from all decorating, he would have to call in re-enforcements. Within half an hour of calling, Madeline, Nick and Isla turned up at the apartment. When Stella opened the door, her face fell as she saw the frowning face Madeline was giving her.

"What's with the face?" Stella asked, moving to one side of the door.

"Mac called me. He said you were getting in the way."

Stella turned around and shot a look in Mac's direction. "He said that?"

"Well...not in so many words but basically, yeah. You need to be sitting down, with your feet up. Not trying to redecorate." Madeline started to nudge Stella in the direction of the living room.

"Mommy said you was being bad and we had to come see you." Isla giggled, skipping off ahead.

Madeline didn't leave the front room until Stella was curled up comfortably on the couch with a blanket covering her and a cheesy rom-com playing on the TV. Isla sat contently at Stella's feet, playing with her dollies and singing to herself. Madeline stood at the kitchen sink and rubbed her forehead.

"You okay?" Mac asked, creeping up beside her.

"Yeah. She'll never learn, will she?" Madeline sighed and laughed softly.

"Probably not" Mac agreed.

"But that's why you love her right?" She smiled and looked at Mac, who definitely blushed.

"I...I don't..." Mac stammered.

"Every time she defies an order, or ignores advice, you get this look in your eyes. Like this dreamy, glassy-eyed, can't-believe-my-luck kind of look." Madeline explained with a smile on her face.

"I do love her." Mac admitted. "That's why I wanted to talk to you."

Madeline stopped what she was doing and turned to face Mac, sensing that this was going to be a serious talk for which she would need to pay full attention. Mac shifted slightly and took a deep breath.

"I love her, more than...more than I've ever loved anyone. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I want..." Mac trailed off, shocked that he had revealed so much emotion in such a short space of time.

"You want to marry her." Madeline finished, a big grin quickly spreading across her face.

"Yeah, I do. But I wanted to make sure that that's okay with you." Mac stated.

"Mac, you don't need to ask me. You've known her a lot longer than I have. You make her so happy, anyone can see that. And now, with the baby and everything, you two deserve a happily ever after."

Madeline felt slightly tearful as she hugged Mac. She couldn't imagine anything greater than having him as her step-father.

"So, when are you gunna ask her?" Madeline said excitedly.

"Tonight, after you've all gone and it's just the two of us." He chuckled, noticing Madeline's disappointed face.

"Do you have the ring? Can I see it?" Madeline asked, jumping excitedly.

"It's locked away in the gun safe. Since she hasn't been working, she hasn't needed to go in there, and I keep the key." Mac grinned.

Madeline hugged Mac again, before promising to stay quiet. When she returned to the living room, it took all of her willpower to keep the grin off of her face. She set the drinks down on the table and avoided Stella's stare. Stella eyed Madeline up cautiously.

"What?" She asked suspiciously.

"Nothing!" Madeline replied innocently.

"Stella, do I get to see the baby now?" Isla asked, looking up from where she was playing.

"Not yet sweetie, but you can see his new bedroom when it's done." Stella offered, though it wasn't much of a consolation.

"He's gunna have your room." Madeline said.

"But where am I gunna go sleep?" Isla whined, sticking her bottom lip out.

"In the cupboard." Madeline laughed upon seeing her daughter's outraged face.

Isla turned to look at Stella. Stella chuckled softly and shook her head. She held out her arms and Isla ran up to her and gave her grandma a cuddle.

It took the men all morning and a large portion of the afternoon to finish the nursery. By 5 o'clock, the room was painted and half furnished. After Madeline made them all dinner, the little family left Mac and Stella alone. Mac took a long hot shower. He was a bundle of nerves. Once he was dressed, he slipped the ring into his pocket and made his way into the living room. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his hands on her stomach.

"He's kicking." Mac stated, a huge grin spreading across his face.

"He kicks every time you're near." Stella smiled, placing her hands on top of Mac's. "He knows it's his daddy."

Mac chuckled. "Sounds strange when you say that."

"Say what?" Stella turned her head, a confused look on her face.

"His daddy. Maybe not so much the daddy part, just knowing that he's our son and not a daughter."

Stella raised an eyebrow. "Mac, you are his daddy and he is your son. Did you inhale too many paint fumes?"

"We've got him all this stuff, but what if it's a girl? Don't look at me like that, it could happen!" He argued, laughing at Stella's expression which was a mixture of despair and bewilderment. "I wanna show you something, just trust me."

"Okay..." Stella replied hesitantly.

Mac tried to take a deep breath to steady his nerves. _This is it_, he thought to himself. He couldn't stop his hands trembling as he reached into his pocket. He was thankful that Stella had turned her attention away. He pulled out a thin gold chain, on which hung a beautiful white gold engagement ring. With a solitaire diamond and a unique twist surrounding it, Mac was sure Stella would love it. The ring had been given to him by his mother and he vowed to share it only with his true love.

"My grandmother used to say that if you hang a ring over the stomach you can guarantee the sex of the baby. If the ring swings back and forth, it's a girl. If it swings in a circle, it's a boy."

"I never pegged you for the superstitious type Mr Taylor." She laughed softly.

"I promised her I'd use this if I ever had any kids." He pulled out the ring and held it, just far enough way so that she couldn't really see it.

Stella shook her head and laughed. She didn't pay much attention to the ring. She moved her hands and twister her body so she was lying flat on her back. Her swollen stomach was facing upwards, which caused her a slight amount of discomfort. The baby was crushing every organ.

"You ready?" Mac laughed, holding the ring and chain up.

They watched in anticipation as the ring began to pick up momentum. Sure enough, it started to swing in circles. The ring shimmered under the light. Stella grinned and stroked her stomach.

"What did I tell you?" Stella said smugly, before pushing herself up and kissing Mac's cheek.

Mac returned the kiss and clasped the ring and chain in his hand.

"Marry me, Stella." Mac blurted, trying to sound as confident as possible.

"Wh..what?" She stammered.

"You heard me. Marry me. I want to spend every day of the rest of our lives, together. I love you Stella Bonasera." Mac admitted honestly.

He opened up his hand and showed her the ring. Stella carefully took it in her hands and brought the ring closer to her. It was truly beautiful.

"So?" Mac pushed, he was desperate for an answer.

Stella's eyes filled with tears and her voice caught in her throat. She was speechless. Unable to put her thoughts into words, she nodded and shakily wiped away her tears. Mac held her closer and kissed her. He kissed like it was the first time. It felt exciting and new.

"I love you Mac." She eventually managed to choke out.

"I love you." He whispered in reply.

They kissed again, holding each other and giggling like teenagers.

"Am I putting this on myself?" Stella laughed, holding the chain.

"Nope, allow me." Mac replied.

Stella began to unclasp the clasp but Mac stopped her. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. He took the chain out of her hands and shook his head. He unclasped it herself and draped it around her neck. Stella held her curls up as Mac fastened it behind her.

"It's sized from one of your old rings. I knew it would fit you now because of...well because of..." Mac trailed off, afraid of offending her.

"Because of my fat, swollen pregnancy fingers?" She offered and saved him from his embarrassment.

"Uh, yeah, so I bought you the chain. You can wear the ring without actually having to wear the ring. Do you like it?" He asked.

"I love it. Thank you." She smiled.

She twirled the ring in her hands and tried to slip it onto her finger. She managed to get it just past the knuckle before she pulled it off and let it drop. The ring hung around her neck and the tears began to well in her eyes again.

"I love you, Mac Taylor."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: The most grovelling of apologies does not forgive how long it's taken me to update! I hit writers block, then fell ill and didn't have the energy to try and overcome it. Nevertheless, I have finished chapter 14 - the one we've all been waiting for. Considering I'm exhausted and ill, I think I did pretty well! It's not been proof-read yet but I'll do that later on.  
Enjoy and let me know what you think!  
Bx**

* * *

_**Chapter Fourteen**_

_9 Months _

Stella grumbled as she slowly got up out of bed. Mac had already left for work so she had to pull herself off of the mattress. This was the most un-dignified and un-ladylike she had ever felt. Her son was being almost as stubborn as she could. As she shuffled into the kitchen, her hand rubbed across her stomach. She was over-due. She should've had the baby 8 days ago. The doctor had scheduled an induction for the next day and she was already counting down the hours. Stella took a glass of water and went back to lay in bed. She rested her head back against the cushion and shut her eyes. She smiled to herself as she felt the baby start to shift in her belly. He was coming soon, she was sure of it. Every now and then a sharp pain shot across her abdomen. The first time it happened, the doctor told her it was Braxton Hicks. These felt different though, it was barely noticeable but it was definitely different. Once again, the baby kicked out.

"It's getting a little cramped in there, huh? You know, if you came out, you'd be able to stretch out." Stella said out loud, looking down at her moving stomach. "Is that a no then?"

Her hands moved up to the chain that was hanging around her neck. Her fingers toyed with the ring, twisting and turning it. She couldn't wait till she could actually have it on her finger. A ring on her finger and a baby in her arms. She grinned widely at the thought. This time tomorrow, she would be on her way to have her son. The baby didn't stop wriggling, like he could sense his mother's excitement.

"Your sister didn't move this much." She rolled her eyes and patted the top of her bump.

"What didn't I do?" Madeline questioned, pushing opening Stella's bedroom door.

"Fidget. When did you get here?" Stella raised an eyebrow.

"Just now, did you not here the door?" She dropped herself down next to Stella.

"Nope. I was trying to convince the baby to come today and to stop moving for five minutes."

Just as Stella finished talking, Isla bounded into the room with a half-eaten cookie clutched tightly in her hand. She put the rest of her snack it her mouth and jumped up onto the bed, sitting cross-legged between her mother and grandmother. Stella held out her arm and Isla curled up next to her.

"The baby is big now, huh Stella?" Isla pointed out, her eyes widening at Stella's huge stomach.

"Yep, he's even bigger than you when you were in your mom's belly. He'll be here soon and then you can play with him." Stella promised as she ran her hands through the little girl's hair.

"What time are you leaving tomorrow?" Madeline asked, pushing herself up onto her elbows.

"8:30 - we need to be there by nine so they can start at ten." Stella smiled dreamily.

The three of them spent the morning lazing in the bed, watching movies and talking. Madeline filled Stella in on all the latest gossip on her and Nick, most of which Stella had no desire to hear. It was the perfect way to spend their last morning together before the baby arrived. The only thing missing was Mac. All day Stella ignored the dull pain she was feeling in her lower stomach. _Don't get your hopes up, _she reminded herself.

It was getting closer to the time Mac usually got home. Stella found herself impatiently watching the clock in the kitchen. The sooner he got home, the quicker time would go between now and tomorrow morning. When he walked through the kitchen door, she pounced on him as best as she could.

"You're home." She smiled wistfully.

"I'm home." Mac replied, not caring that she was simply stating the obvious. He was just glad to be back with her.

He put his hands on each side of her stomach and gently pulled her in closer for a kiss. He felt as the baby twisted and moved inside of her. In all of his life, he would never forget how incredible that felt. He kissed her again, running his fingers through her curls. Stella grinned and led them both into the nursery.

The nursery was beautiful. Everything, right down to the last detail, was perfect. Her gaze drifted across all the furniture in the room. She stared longingly at the white crib. Another pain crept across her stomach. It was strong, so strong that she needed to sit down immediately. Stella carefully dropped herself down onto the armchair in the corner. The steady rocking motion began to soothe her and soon the pain was gone.

"Mac, are we...uh...ready?" Stella asked, pressing down on the top of her bump.

"Ready?" Mac raised an eyebrow. He knew they were ready; they had had this conversation over a hundred times.

"To bring the baby home, you know, soon." Stella said with a hint of stress in her voice.

"What are you talking about?" Mac chuckled, not sensing the urgency, and turned around to face her.

His face fell and his heart dropped into his stomach. She was clutching at her stomach, her face sweating and her face was scrunched up in agony.

"Stell, are you..." He began, unable to actually finish the sentence.

"Yeah, I think so, maybe. We should probably go to the hospital though, right?" Stella replied, almost too casually. "It doesn't hurt so bad now anyway, it's...no I'm not in labor."

Mac helped pull her up off of the chair. His heart and brain had gone into overdrive, everything needed to be done quickly. He needed to get Stella to the hospital. She tried weakly to resist. Somehow she managed to gain balance, and she stood straight up. And then her water broke.

"Car. Now." Mac ordered. He grabbed the hospital bag from the hook by the door and slung it over his shoulder.

Once they were in the car, Mac wasted no time in sticking on the siren and the lights. He didn't care that is was an abuse of power. He would deal with the consequences later. Right now, all he needed to do was get his fiancé to the hospital.

"After 22 years you sort of forget how painful this is." Stella muttered through gritted teeth.

"You're doing great, just hold on, okay." Mac shook his head, cringing at the cliché, but it was true. She was doing great.

There was no-one in the world that he loved and respected more than Stella Bonasera. He had seen her go through hell and back but he had never seen her actually look in pain before. He could see her knuckles turning white as she gripped onto the edge of the dashboard. Even with New York traffic, it took less than 10 minutes for them to get to the hospital. The large white building loomed in front of them. Mac spun the car into a free space at the front of the building and jumped out. He grabbed a wheelchair from a passing nurse. She was about to process when she saw Stella getting herself out of the car. The young woman followed Mac and helped him get Stella into the chair and into the building.

"Please Mac...get me inside...make them give me morphine. Please, I'm begging you." Stella said tearfully, grabbing at his hand.

"I will, sweetie, I promise." He kissed the top of her head and carried on pushing her through the hallways.

"Okay, okay, thank you." Stella twisted her neck and kissed the back of his hand.

Mac moved faster. If she was asking for the painkillers, it must be bad and it was hurting him to see her so uncomfortable.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

On the maternity ward, a nurse helped Stella to get settled into a private room. They hooked her up to monitors, drips and pain medication until she finally felt comfortable. Or at least as close to comfortable as she could get. A doctor came in and began running tests and checks. It didn't do anything to ease her comfort but it did mean she was one step closing to having the baby.

"5 centimetres?" Mac raised an eyebrow. "That's what, this much?" He held his hands in the air and used his fingers to measure out the distance.

"Yes, Mac, 5 centimetres. Halfway there." Stella laughed.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

They were there for a further 6 hours and she had only gone up by 2 centimetres. This was going a lot slower than anyone had expected. After helping put Isla to bed, Madeline got to the hospital as quickly as she could.

"Are you bored yet?" Madeline asked sleepily as she flicked through the pages of a trashy magazine.

"Bored, tired and in pain - yep, all of the above." Stella yawned, trying once again to get herself in a comfortable position.

As another contraction hit, she bit back a scream and tightened her grip on Mac's hand.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The time for Stella's scheduled induction was fast approaching but she still had no baby. They were close, just not close enough, only 2 more centimetres to go. Stella was exhausted. She had sent Madeline home, knowing that she'd be up soon once Isla woke up. As much as she wanted to have her son, she almost wanted a shower and a sleep more. Whenever she got close to sleep, another contraction tore through her and caused her to wake up. Eventually the pain became too much. Every part of her body was sore. She needed this baby out of her. She needed to push.

"Mac, you need to get up now." She hissed, smacking his arm and waking him up.

Almost as if on cue, Doctor Fairview walked into the room to see how she was. Mac stood up-right, completely unaware of what was happening. He paced impatiently on the spot, holding on to Stella's hand, as the doctor checked her over. She watched and waited in anticipation as he read through charts, adding too it and checking the monitor.

"So, are we ready?" The doctor grinned.

Stella nodded eagerly and gripped Mac's hand tighter. This was it. They were going to have a baby.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

All of the love and respect he had for Stella before the baby elevated tenfold. With all the pain that she was going through, she didn't complain. She knew what she needed to do and she knew screaming bloody murder wasn't going to help, though it did make her feel better. It took a further agonizing hour before the baby's head was out. As she heard her son take his first breath and began to cry, it felt like all the red hot pain in her body faded away. With a deep breath, and summoning up her last shred of energy, she pushed one more time.

"That it!" The doctor cheered. "Congratulations, you have a healthy, baby boy."

A nurse took the baby and quickly cleaned him before placing him on Stella's chest. Tears of joy began to fall silently down her cheeks. She watched as Mac was handed the scissors and he snipped the cord. Not wanting to miss a moment of his sons first few minutes, his attention was quickly back on Stella and the baby.

"You did it." Mac said lovingly, wrapping his arm around Stella. His fingers grazed the side of the baby's face. "I love you."

"He's beautiful isn't he? It's not just me being biased?" Stella couldn't take her eyes off of her son.

The baby looked up at his parents. He had dark curls on the top of his head that were almost identical to Stella's. But his eyes? His eyes were all Mac's. They were wide and inquisitive, a beautiful hazel colour.

"He is beautiful." Mac agreed. "You know, he still needs a name?"

"We have time." Stella smiled softly.

Mac stared down at the baby fast asleep in Stella's arms. It was his son. He still couldn't get over it. He had never fallen in love so fast. Mac reached his arms out and Stella slowly passed over the baby. She was reluctant to let go, but it did give her a chance to try and sleep. She dropped quickly, having been awake for nearly 24 hours. Mac watched her sleep as he rocked his newborn son in his arms.

This was everything he didn't know he wanted. This was the family he thought he'd never have. And it was all thanks to Stella. He owed her so much.

"Thank you." He whispered in her direction.

She didn't answer of course, but she almost smiled in her sleep as if she had heard him. He couldn't ask for more.


End file.
